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Science Center honors immigrants who made Philly rich, interesting

The organization named six immigrant entrepreneurs, past and present, to the third yearly list for its Innovators Walk of Fame.

Osagie Imasogie, Nigeria-born pharmaceutical CEO and investor, and one of seven Philadelphia-area founders named to the Innovators’ Walk of Fame by University City Science Center
Osagie Imasogie, Nigeria-born pharmaceutical CEO and investor, and one of seven Philadelphia-area founders named to the Innovators’ Walk of Fame by University City Science CenterRead moreEd Hille

With the U.S. going through one of its anti-immigration spasms, the University City Science Center last Thursday, at its Nucleus 2017 fund-raiser, named six immigrant entrepreneurs, past and present, to the third yearly list for its Innovators Walk of Fame:

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont: The France-born chemist founded the DuPont Co. on the Brandywine in 1802. It merged with Dow Chemical Sept. 1 after inventing "Nylon, Teflon, Corian, and Kevlar," and much more that "transformed safety, fashion, and agriculture," and war.

Hubert J.P. Schoemaker: Founder of Centocor (1979), now part of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies. Netherlands-born Schoemaker "put Philly on map as a biotech center," fighting psoriasis, Crohn's, and other autoimmune diseases, and "generously" backing entrepreneurs.

Osagie Imasogie: The Nigeria native "is leaving a deep mark" in Philadelphia as a founder of PIPV (Phoenix) Capital, Ception Therapeutics, Trigenesis, GlaxoSmithKline Ventures, executive chair of Iroko Pharmaceuticals and chair of iCeutica Inc.

Krishna Singh: Indian-born chief of Holtec International and its new, 50-acre Camden campus (at an ex-shipyard), Singh supplies nuclear plants and funded the nanotechnology center at Penn.

Michael Solomonov: Israeli-born restaurateur and Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef gave the city Zahav, Federal Donuts, Broad Street Ministry's Rooster Soup, and "creative flair with a humanitarian ethic."

Blanka Zizka: A Cold War refugee from Czechoslovakia, with her partner Jiri, pulled Philadelphia's old stage tradition into "contemporary international repertory" at Wilma Theater.