Biography
Samir Mayekar is an accomplished leader with a track record of driving innovation and impact across the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. He serves as the Managing Director of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago where he plays a pivotal role in advancing the University’s innovation, technology commercialization, entrepreneurship, and partnership priorities. The Polsky Center has supported the creation of over 750 companies still operating today that have raised or exited over $10B. Samir is also an adjunct faculty member who teaches graduate courses at the Booth School of Business and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
Most recently, Samir was deputy mayor for the city of Chicago, where he focused on economic and neighborhood development. He managed 9 city departments and sister agencies and a staff of over 3000. Previously he served in the U.S. government where he was part of the White House’s national security team and on the executive staff at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.
Samir also co-founded and served as CEO of NanoGraf Corporation, a global manufacturer of advanced materials for the lithium-ion battery industry that has raised over $200 million in funding and was spun out of Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University. He holds a B.A. and M.B.A. from Northwestern, where he served as a trustee, and he is active in the Chicago civic community, serving on the boards of the Commercial Club, Civic Federation, Lyric Opera, Ravinia Festival, Hubbard Street Dance, Third Coast Percussion, and Millennium Bank. He is a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and is an alumnus of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship and the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
Academic Areas
- Entrepreneurship