Born in a priest's family, Ivan Vyshnegradsky graduated from the Tver Theological Seminary and later from the Main Pedagogical Institute.

He specialized in mechanics and among his contributions was a set of criteria for identifying the stability of steam engine speed governors.

[1] By the time he was appointed a government minister his fortune was nearly a million roubles due to his participation in several joint-stock companies as well as being a renowned and talented entrepreneur.

In 1884 Ivan Vyshnegradsky became a member of the Council of Ministers of Public Instruction and drew up a program for technical education.

Although achieving a balanced budget, accumulating gold reserves and strengthening the rouble, Vyshnegradsky's work was criticised in light of his contradictory taxes on peasants leading to the Russian famine of 1891-92.