Rothman Institute Celebrates 20th Year

The Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurship will be celebrating its 20th anniversary on Tuesday, April 27, with a gathering that honors distinguished entrepreneurs and innovators who have been involved in the institute’s world-class programming that features keynote speaker John Crowley, founder and CEO of Amicus Therapeutics. The event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park, N.J., and will include awards, dinner and the address.

John Crowley

Crowley is an American business and social entrepreneur who heads Amicus Therapeutics, a 100-person publicly held biopharmaceutical company working on the development of drugs to treat a range of human genetic diseases. His involvement in the biotech industry goes back over a decade and stems from the 1998 diagnosis of his two youngest children, Megan and Patrick, with Pompe disease, a rare and fatal neuromuscular disorder. Crowley embarked on his journey as an entrepreneur to find a treatment that would save his children’s lives — and the lives of thousands of others — parlaying his personal struggles and determination into a series of highly successful business biotech ventures. His story inspired the recent film, “Extraordinary Measures,” (2010) which stars Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. Crowley will also be honored as the Rothman Institute’s 12th Richard M. Clarke Distinguished Entrepreneurial Lecturer that evening.

There will be many other honorees including Doris Drucker, MS’63 (Metro), inventor and author; Seth Gerszberg, Mark Ecko Enterprises; Fred Hassan, Schering-Plough; Lillian Rodríguez López, Hispanic Federation; Ralph Nader, consumer advocate; Gregory Olsen, BS’66, BSEE’68, MS’68 (Metro), Sensors Unlimited/GHO Ventures; Ranjini Poddar, Artech Information Systems; John Martinson, Edison Venture Fund; and Maxine Ballen, New Jersey Technical Council. A commemorative book of vignettes, Entrepreneurs and Innovators — Insights from Global Leaders, will include synopses of some of their presentations.

The co-chairs of the Celebration Committee are Al Koeppe of the Newark Alliance and Joan Verplanck of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

The evening will begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by the keynote address, awards and dinner at 6:30 p.m. To receive a formal invitation call 973-443-8842 or e-mail Gabrielle Zuccaro, administrative assistant, Rothman Institute (Flor), at gzuccaro@fdu.edu. For tickets and sponsorship information go to http://www.fdu.edu/ri20 . There will be a limited number of complimentary and discounted tickets available for students, faculty and staff. For information call 973-443-8842.

Part of the Silberman College of Business since 1989, the mission of the Rothman Institute is to teach and support entrepreneurship and innovation in the academic, business and nonprofit communities.