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Larry Dubinski is the 17th president and chief executive officer of The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, founded in 1824. The Franklin Institute is one of the premier science centers in the country, welcoming more than 850,000 visitors (including 200,000 schoolchildren) each year.
Before beginning his role as president and chief executive officer in July 2014, Dubinski served as senior vice president of external affairs and general counsel, as executive vice president, and later as chief operating officer of The Franklin Institute.
During his tenure at The Franklin Institute, Dubinski has led two major capital campaigns totaling $120 million: Turning the Key (2003) and Inspire Science (2012). These campaigns resulted in the construction and completion of the 53,000 square-foot, $41 million transformative expansion—the Nicholas and Athena Karabots Pavilion in 2014.
In preparation for The Franklin Institute’s bicentennial in 2024, Dubinski is currently leading the planning, development, and activation of a comprehensive master plan and strategic vision that will dramatically transform our historic 400,000 square-foot facility over the next five years and redefine the science center.
Under Dubinski’s leadership, The Franklin Institute has significantly raised its international profile. A string of curatorial and exhibit exchanges and the development of strategic partnerships have led to the procurement of artifact loans and subsequent world-class traveling exhibitions, including Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor and Vatican Splendors. The Institute has significantly improved its digital landscape, and experienced a substantial upsurge in millennial interest as a result of Dubinski’s push for engaging experiences like escape rooms, virtual and augmented reality, after-hours adult programming, and speaker events that, together with an internationally-celebrated awards program, have delivered notables such as Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Bill Nye, and astronaut Scott Kelly to the Institute’s expanded audience.
These initiatives, which focus on a new strategic business model approach while maintaining support for the Institute’s mission to inspire a passion for learning about science and tech, earned Dubinski the 2017 honor of Most Admired CEO from the Philadelphia Business Journal.
In September 2019, Dubinski assumed the prestigious role of board chair of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), a global organization representing science centers and museums with more than 600 members in over 40 countries dedicated to furthering the public understanding of science among increasingly diverse audiences. Over his two-year term, Dubinski will lead ASTC through the implementation of a new strategic direction.
Dubinski contributes his business acumen to some of the most dedicated and purposeful boards in the region and beyond—including the renowned Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany. In Philadelphia, Dubinski is a member of the Parkway Council Foundation and sits on the board of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce where he is a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. He is on the board of the Satell Institute, where he also vice-chair, and recently rotated off the board of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, where he was on the executive committee and chair of the audience engagement committee.
Dubinski is on the board of advisors of Rodeph Shalom and a member of the Young Presidents Organization. He holds a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the Temple University Beasley School of Law. Dubinski spent four years (2000-2004) at one of the largest law firms in the world, Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP and returned to The Franklin Institute in 2004.
Follow him on Twitter @LarryDubinski.