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The O’Doherty group would like to thank the Beckman Young Investigator program for their support of our research program. In particular, we would like to honor the memory of Dr. Arnold Beckman, who passed away on May 18, 2004. Simply put, without his financial support this program would not exist. Biography of Dr. Arnold O. Beckman
George W. Beckman, a blacksmith, and his wife, Elizabeth,
were enjoying their lives in the small farming community of Cullom, Illinois,
when they became the parents of Arnold O. Beckman on April 10, 1900. Little did
they know what an impact he would make in the world of science, business and
education. Cullom, Illinois was a very austere town and Dr. Beckman has
a very sincere appreciation for that. “I was lucky, as I look back. We had an
environment such that we had to take care of our own amusement and improvise for
our experiments. We had to make do with what we had. This forcing us to
improvise – I thing was a very good thing. We had to devise our own toys to a
large extent.” At the very inquisitive age of 10, Dr. Beckman found a book in
the family attic that convinced him to become a chemist: Steele’s Fourteen Weeks
in Chemistry. Before reaching his teens, he had a job as a “chemist” in a small
store in Cullom, running the Babcock cream tester to analyze the butter content
of cream. Early into his high school years, Dr. Beckman learned to play
the piano from a Lutheran minister and began playing background music at the
local silent movie house. This helped with the family expenses. He later used
this talent to put himself through school by playing in a dance orchestra and,
again, for the silent movies in the Irvin Theater in Bloomington, Illinois. Dr. Beckman graduated from high school in 1918 and the United
States was well into World War I. That summer he joined the Marine Corps.
Fortunately he was never sent overseas, instead he was stationed at the Brooklyn
Navy Yard and remained there until the war ended. During this time he met Mabel
Meinzer, who later became Mrs. Beckman, at a dinner at the Greenpoint Red Cross
Chapter, where Mabel was one of the girls serving meals. In the fall of 1919, Dr. Beckman entered the University of
Illinois where, in 1922, he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering
and a master’s degree in physical chemistry a year later. He then headed out
west again, this time to attend the California Institute of Technology. After
spending a year at Caltech he returned to New York to see Mabel. He decided to
stay and was able to obtain employment at Bell Laboratories. This is where he
began his association with electronics engineers and began soaking up
electronics information. Arnold Beckman and Mabel Meinzer were married June 10, 1925.
A year later they moved to California where Dr. Beckman accepted a teaching
assignment at Caltech. He resumed his doctoral studies at Caltech while teaching
general chemistry and working as a laboratory assistant. He was awarded his
Ph.D. in 1928 and was invited by the administrator of Caltech to join the
faculty. He had begun what he thought was his life career as a chemistry
professor. While he was still teaching, Dr. Beckman founded what
eventually became Beckman Instruments, Inc. in 1935 with the invention of the
acidimeter. Produced for a former classmate at a Southern California citrus
processing plant, Beckman designed the acidimeter to measure acidity levels in
lemon juice. The acidimeter was later called a pH meter and quickly became an
indispensable tool in analytical chemistry. The invention earned him a place in
the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1987, joining other great inventors such
as Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. Dr. Beckman once stated, “When
you’re faced with the necessity to do something, that’s a stimulus to invention.
If [my classmate] hadn’t come in with this lemon juice problem, chances are I
never in the world would have thought about making a pH meter.” Dr. Beckman continued to develop and manufacture scientific
instruments, leading to the release of the DU Spectrophotometer in 1940.
Considered the scientific equivalent of the Model T, this product not only
simplified tedious laboratory procedures, it also increased analytical precision
and revolutionized chemical analysis. These extraordinary contributions led President Bush to award
Dr. Beckman the National Medal of Science in 1989 for leadership in analytical
instrumentation development and for his deep concern for the vitality of the
nation’s scientific enterprises. He was also nationally recognized under the
Reagan administration with the 1989 Presidential Citizens Medal for his
exemplary deeds of service and the 1988 National Medal of Technology for
outstanding technological contributions to the United States. Dr. Beckman’s love of science and spirit of invention lives
on in Beckman-Coulter, Inc., a company with modest beginnings that today is one
of the world’s leading manufacturers of instruments and suppliers to the
clinical diagnostics and life sciences to the clinical diagnostics and life
sciences markets. Currently, the company has about 10,000 employees in 35
facilities worldwide and operates in more than 120 countries and territories.
Even though the company has made a wide variety of products over the years,
including a “rock smasher” for a Mars robot mission and an electronic radio-like
component called a Helipot, it has never strayed very far from Dr. Beckman’s
original focus on “the chemistry of life.” The past years have been rewarding for me in many way,” said
Dr. Beckman, during the Golden Anniversary celebration for Beckman Instruments,
Inc. “Perhaps the greatest reward is the knowledge that Beckman products have
contributed and are contributing to the progress of mankind.” Dr. Beckman is deeply grateful to the scientific community
that nurtured his success and, consequently, directs his philanthropic efforts
to the chemical and life sciences. Considered one of the greatest
philanthropists of all times, Dr. and Mrs. Beckman, through the Arnold and Mabel
Beckman Foundation, have contributed approximately $350 million to the
advancement of scientific research and education. Dr. and Mrs. Beckman expressed
a desire to provide funding to innovative research in chemistry and the life
sciences. This has been accomplished though the Arnold and Mabel Beckman
Foundation with the establishment of the following programs. Since 1991, the Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) program has provided research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences. The Beckman Young Investigators are young scientists who are conducting innovative, leading-edge scientific research programs at prominent universities and research institutes across the nation. In 1997, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation established the Beckman Scholars Program. The program is intended to stimulate, encourage and support research activities by exceptionally talented undergraduate students in chemistry, biochemistry, biological and medical sciences research at select colleges and universities located throughout the United States. The Beckman Foundation Research Technologies Initiative,
established in 1999, supports the development of new research technologies,
directed at leading-edge scientific fields of study, that have significant
potential for creating new approaches to the solution of basic research
questions. “Technology” as used here includes development of new instrumentation
and materials as well as novel methods and applications of existing
instrumentation and materials. Two five-year awards for $2.5 million were made
to the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Minnesota. In addition, the Foundation provides ongoing research support
to five Beckman Institutes/Centers. These institutes/centers are located at the
California Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign, City of Hope Hospital and Medical Center, Stanford University
and Beckman Laser Institute. To date, these five Centers/Institutes have
received in excess of $153 million in support from Dr. Beckman. Dr. Beckman also believed strongly that education in the
sciences is extremely important at all levels, beginning at the tender age of
three or four. “Particularly, I’d like to get young kids interested in science;
the young mind is inquisitive enough that you don’t have to worry about scaring
up enthusiasm, you simply need to keep them interested and excited about
science.” In June 1998, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation made
the decision to fund elementary science education in Orange County, California
through the Beckman@Science Program. The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, on
behalf of Dr. and Mrs. Beckman will spend approximately $14.5 million over a
five-year period, on a comprehensive program that brings together quality
science curricula, teacher training and community support for schools. The
program is designed to capture children’s natural curiosity and stimulate their
interest in science through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning
experiences. “I accumulated my wealth by selling instruments to
scientists,” says a humble Dr. Beckman of his vast philanthropic associations.
“So I thought it would be appropriate to make contributions to scientists, and
that’s been my number one guideline for charity.” On May 18, 2004, Dr. Arnold O. Beckman passed away in La Jolla, California at 104 years. Although he is gone his legacy lives on through the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and all those dedicated to the pursuit of science. |
