Founded as a tech promotion center by venture capitalists almost 200 years ago, the Franklin Institute is known for its Parkway science museum, with its giant locomotive, the model heart so big you can walk through it, and other displays you loved as a schoolkid.
Lately it’s also been a stop for national exhibits showcasing the media technology of Disney Animation and Harry Potter. Chief bioscientist Jayatri Das and chief astronomer Derrick Pitts raise its media profile; hip-hop artist the Bul Bey and comedian Kristen Michelle Cills guide its growing podcasts.
Like other nonprofits around Center City, the Franklin Institute’s overseers are a board of largely local professionals — industrialists, real estate developers, doctors, start-up bosses — whose behind-the-scenes roles include hiring the institute’s chief executive, Texas-bred Larry Dubinski, and raising and donating…
