When asked about his motivation for supporting financial aid for HBS students from his native Poland, energy industry entrepreneur and investor Jacek Makowski reveals his deep regard for history—both Poland’s and his own. 

“Even before Soviet rule,” he notes, “back as far as 1792, when the country lost its independence, there was a dearth of business acumen in Poland. That history makes the growth of Polish businesses since the fall of Communism nothing short of amazing.” 

Makowski’s recent gift adds a charitable remainder trust to his existing endowed fellowship. He says he hopes it will “enable young, entrepreneurial managers from Poland to lead even more business growth in the years ahead.” 

Educated as an engineer in England, where his father led a Polish squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II, Makowski immigrated to Canada in the 1950s and worked for Shell Oil until enrolling at HBS to broaden his skills and career options. “For me,” he says, “HBS was a step toward rebuilding the respect our family had enjoyed in Poland before the devastation of the war.”

Makowski’s business ventures reflect both engineering experience and long-term strategic vision. He was a founding partner in a Lawrence, Massachusetts, hydroelectric plant which was the first venture to take advantage of the 1978 National Energy Act’s alternative energy incentives. Later, he and his team at J. Makowski Co. Inc. helped bring Canadian natural gas to the United States on long-term contracts, which led to the development of the Iroquois pipeline in 1992 and the advent of the first large-scale, gas-fired US power plants. 

Clearly, Makowski’s entrepreneurial achievements and generosity will inspire future HBS students for years to come. (December 2015)

Learn how you, too, can support fellowships by naming HBS as a beneficiary of a will, charitable remainder trust, or retirement plan.

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