RoseAnn B. Rosenthal

RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President, CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Ben Franklin since 1996, has over forty years of experience in business investment, regional planning, and economic development. Rosenthal has piloted Ben Franklin into a national model for technology innovation, investing in innovative enterprises and creating commercialization pathways and partnerships throughout the region. Ben Franklin’s current company portfolio represents more than 130 companies with more than $35 million in invested funds. Rosenthal’s leadership proved invaluable in 2010 as Ben Franklin successfully partnered for the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub (EEB). The U.S. DOE, EDA and other federal agencies awarded $129 million to develop the EEB Hub, where Ben Franklin is the commercialization partner. The EEB Hub’s innovative commercialization model was based on the success of The Nanotechnology Institute™ (NTI) that Rosenthal co-developed. Created in 2000, the NTI is the region’s first multi-institutional partnership focused on accelerating nanotechnology commercialization and company formation. Rosenthal is an inaugural member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She is also on the boards of the Fox Chase Bank, the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, the Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board in Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Congress and many others. Rosenthal holds a bachelor’s degree from Temple University and, in 2007, received an honorary Ph.D. in Humane Letters from Philadelphia University. She was presented the Early Stage East Founders Award in 2008; and in 2009 honored with the Blair Thompson Lifetime Venture Award from the MAC Alliance, and the Champion of Small Business Award by the National Coalition for Capital. In 2012, Rosenthal was inducted into the Temple University League for Entrepreneurial Women’s Hall of Fame. Rosenthal will be honored with the Alliance of Women Entrepreneur’s 2013 Iris Newman Award.