FRANKLIN INSTITUTE

Programs: Museum admissions & operations: as the most-visited museum in the commonwealth and a top-five tourist destination in the city of philadelphia, the franklin institute serves as both a prominent educational and cultural resource, and as an anchor of the local economy. In 2014, the institute welcomed 761,667 visitors to the museum, including 187,751 children who came as part of school groups, representing every county in pennsylvania and surrounding states including new jersey, delaware, and new york. The franklin institute's longstanding reputation helps to elevate the commonwealth and the city of philadelphia as models for cultural and informal education excellence. The institute welcomes visitors of all ages to explore science in interactive exhibits and public programs. The institute remains fully committed to providing an exceptional experience for its many visitors and increasing service to its audience, extending the institute's mission -to inspire a passion for learning about science and technology to children and families throughout greater philadelphia, regardless of means, remains as always at the heart of its priorities. It does so through outstanding exhibits and many education and outreach programs, especially those for underserved youth and families such as community night, and the student access program that welcomes students from under-resourced schools free of charge. In 2014, the institute hosted one day in pompeii,which allowed visitors to experience the city from garden frescoes and marble statues to helmets and shin guards of the day's gladiators, coins and currency to religious altars and shrines. As the floors shook and the walls rumbled, guests were able to relive the volcano's catastrophic eruption through an immersive cgi experience, and witness the devastation left in its path. The institute also hosted body worlds:animal inside out, where visitors embarked on an anatomical safari to explore the intricate biology, zoology, and physiology of the world's most spectacular creatures both large and small; sesame street presents: the body, where visitors learned all about their body from the inside out featuring sesame street characters and interactives that covered everything from how the body works during different modes of transportation to germs; circus! Science under the big top, which allowed guests to discover the scientific secrets behind their favorite circus acts, test the laws of physics on a tightrope, and swing like a trapeze artist; and 101 inventions that changed the world, where visitors journeyed through time from the creation of the wheel to legos, taking a closer look at the inventions that helped steer human history. In june 2014, the new 53,000-square-foot nicholas and athena karabots pavilion, located on the institute's south side and adjoining the benjamin franklin national memorial opened, allowing the franklin institute to offer its visitors a truly world-class science center experience. The building houses a new stem education center, a climate-controlled traveling exhibition gallery, and a new permanent exhibit your brain in which visitors can explore neuroscience and their own senses. Overall, the nicholas and athena karabots pavilion improves visitor flow throughout the building, providing a more cohesive and higher impact visitor experience that will increase the annual attendance and net income for the institute. The environmental space of the rain garden that frames the entrance to the new building, along with many other "green" aspects secured a silver leed rating for the building. The rain garden absorbs storm water from the building while providing a beautiful and peaceful space for relaxation. The nicholas and athena karabots pavilion was funded by the institute's inspire science campaign, which raised $65. 2 million in funds to expand both the institute's building and programming to reach a broader audience throughout greater philadelphia. The three institute theaters: the fels planetarium, the franklin 3d theater, and the tuttleman imax opened new worlds to hundreds of thousands of visitors. The frequently updated schedule of imax documentary programming in 2014 included ring of fire, which accompanined the pompeii exhibit, forces of nature, space junk, ice age, born to be wild, and great white shark. Additionally, the institute's franklin theater provided museum guests with engaging and educational 3d films throughout the day, including mysteries of the unseen world, and space beyond cosmos amongst its 2014 offerings, and the institute's historic fels planetarium continued to offer out-of-this-world shows including the first franklin institute-produced fulldome planetarium show, to space and back, and wildest weather in the solar system. During the 2014 calendar year, 1,545 people volunteered their time at the institute. From working at the brain bar on the floor to staffing the philadelphia science festival to working behind the scenes to catalog items in the archives, the institute's volunteers provide valuable assistance - literally. The total value of volunteer and intern time donated to the institute in 2014 equals more than $1. 5 million. The franklin institute welcomed 71 college interns from schools across the state in 2014, who contributed over 10,000 hours out of their busy schedules. In addition to lending the institute their skills, they learned on-the-job lessons that will help them in the tough market, gained experience as museum educators. Another group of volunteers are the retired scientists, engineers, and inventors who work on the floor explaining the exhibits and demonstrations to visitors. Still other volunteers work with students in the partnerships for achieving careers in science and technology /(pacts) program, teaching them how to build robots, design buildings, and become who they want to be. Other volunteers include the members of the committee on science and the arts, who help to select the franklin awards laureates each year, and the many members of the community who serve on boards such as the friends committee, the awards committee, and the board of trustees.

franklin institute awards and other projects for nearly two centuries the franklin institute awards program has recognized outstanding achievements in science and technology, celebrated the pursuit of excellence, and provided dynamic connections between the institute and the academic, scientific, and business communities. On april 24, the sold-out franklin institute awards ceremony and dinner was the culmination of a full week of inspiring events. Awards week, which began the monday before the awards ceremony and dinner, included a series of public symposia and lectures that provided opportunities for the internationally distinguished laureates to share their discoveries, experiences, and views with public audiences. Other awards week activities included laureates' laboratory, a session at the institute in which the laureates participated in interactive demonstrations of their work geared toward visiting students; and the meet the scientists program, which was moderated by students from the pacts program. One highlight of the 2014 awards ceremony and dinner was the conferring of the 2014 bower business award to william w. George. He received this award for his visionary leadership of medtronic corporation and for his promotion and writings on corporate social responsibility and leadership, as well as his extraordinary philanthropic contributions to education and health care through the george family foundation. The 2014 bower award for achievement in science and its accompanying $250,000 prize was conferred to edmund m. Clarke, ph. D. For his leading role in the conception and development of techniques for automatically verifying the correctness of a broad array of computer systems. Seven other scientists, each of whom represent the pinnacle of revolutionary achievement in their respective fields, received awards, including dr. Christopher t. Walsh (chemistry), dr. Lisa tauxe (earth and environmental science), dr. Shunichi iwasaki (electrical engineering), dr. Mark h. Kryder (electrical engineering), dr. Joachim frank (life science), dr. Ali hasan neyfeh (mechanical engineering) and dr. Daniel kleppner (physics). The journal of the franklin institute, the second oldest scholarly journal in continuous publication in the united states, has increased the volume of articles per issue, as well as the readership. All 189 years of journals are available online through libraries and research institutions. A key part of the visitor experience at the franklin institute is science programming. During the year the institute offered five different experiential packages for grades 3-12. The packages combined an exhibit with related theater and workshop programs, and were designed to support national science education standards. The institute's website continues to serve as a popular source of complementatry information for educators and the general public alike, nearly 2. 2 million people visited the website in 2014. More than 164,000 students and adults from connecticut to northern virginia were inspired by traveling science shows presented in 500 locations. The institute has long been a leader in providing professional development offerings for teachers throughout the region. While teachers may only have one opportunity to bring their students to the museum each year, the franklin institute's wealth of educators resources and workshops enables teachers to bring the spark for hands-on science interaction into their daily lessons. The institute's professional development programs build teachers' confidence, and help them to align classroom education with nationally mandated standards and with inquiry-based learning activities. Extracirricular activities for youth filled weekends and vacations. Discovery camp, spring break camp, and the school's closed camp welcomed thousands of youngsters, and the weekend overnight camp-in program drew over 7,500 young people.

educational programs, services and grantscompleting its 21st year in 2014, the partners for achieving careers in technology and science (pacts) program is one of the region's oldest and most comprehensive science immersion programs for diverse urban high school students. Pacts serves 150 students from more than 40 philadelphia public schools. 2014 was the fifth year for the institute's stem scholarship programs, a concentrated program of 15 students each year who show high interest in and aptitude fro stem fields. These students receive stem education and mentoring throughout their high school years; in 2014 the program continued to run at capacity, serving 60 students total. Pacts and stem scholars provide students with access to stem professionals as well as college educational programs and services, application and financial aid counseling, exposure to stem careers, and annual robotics programs attracting more than 1,000 participants. These two programs deliver unique stem programming to a diverse audience. As the organizer of the philadelphia science festival, the franklin institute helped 200 partners to reach more than 54,000 people total (excludes science night at the ballpark as it was canceled due to inclement weather) in neighborhoods across the city with hands-on workshops and demonstrations in its fourth year in 2014. Featuring a carnival on the parkway that was attended by 175 exhibitors and more than 40,000 people, the festival also held stargazing events on city corners and offered symposia at local universities. From presenting the science of spicy food to "great gigs" events where scientists talked to students about their jobs, this year's festival partners produced an incredible slate of events over eleven days. The institute also works closely with the science leadership academy (sla), a magnet high school that stands as a further testament to the institute's commitment ot formal education. An inquiry-based, science and technology-focused school founded in 2006 through a unique collaborative between the franklin institute and the school district of philadelphia, sla quickly earned a national reputation for excellence. Its students are consistently among the top performers on state standardized tests, exceeding the city and state averages in every subject. It has a 98% graduation rate as compared to the 64% graduation rate of the rest of the school district. The institute looks forward to continuing this unique partnership with the school district to provide memorable opportunities for sla's students, who come from more than 60 different middle schools. The franklin institute also develops model programs in science learning for the k-12 education community that are delivered both inside and outside the museum walls, including in 52 branches of the free library of philadelphia.

ancillary activities, depreciation and interest not included above.