Founder of Beckman Instruments Dies at 104

Arnold O. Beckman--inventor, philanthropist and founder of Beckman Instruments, now known as Beckman Coulter (Fullerton, CA, USA; www.beckmancoulter.com)--died on May 18 in a hospital near his home in Corona del Mar (CA, USA).

The son of a blacksmith, Dr. Beckman became a chemist and invented groundbreaking instruments that enabled laboratory workers to perform procedures easier and faster, and then used the fruits of his success to create foundations and philanthropies for funding scientific education and research.

Dr. Beckman earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1922 and a master's degree in physical chemistry in 1923, both at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, USA). These were followed by a doctorate in photochemistry in 1928 at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech, Pasadena, USA), where he then taught until 1940.

In 1935 Dr. Beckman invented the pH meter and founded National Technical Laboratories, which later became Beckman Instruments, to build and sell pH meters. This invention was followed five years later with the spectrophotometer.

In 1982, Dr. Beckman merged his company with SmithKline to form SmithKline Beckman Corp., but in 1997 Beckman Instruments was spun off when SmithKline became GlaxoSmithKline. In 1997, Beckman Instruments acquired the Coulter Corporation, which made hematology instruments, and the company was renamed Beckman Coulter, Inc. Today, the company has yearly sales in excess of U.S.$2 billion and employs 10,000 people.

Dr. Beckman and his wife formed the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation in 1977, which has provided more than $400 million for scientific education and research. Dr. Beckman's philanthropy was also responsible for a number of U.S. scientific centers, including the Beckman Laser Institute at the University of California, Irvine; the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois; the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Engineering at Stanford University; and the Center for the History of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania.

During his lifetime, Dr. Beckman received many awards and honors, including the U.S. National Medal of Science, and the U.S. National Medal of Technology. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. National Inventor's Hall of Fame, and his pH meter was designated as a U.S. National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society.

"Simply put, Arnold Beckman was truly one of the great Horatio Alger heroes of the 20th century,” said foundation board chairman Ambassador George Argyros. "He will be sorely missed, not only by myself, but by everyone who has had the privilege to know him, and whose lives have been touched by his intellect, inventiveness, and his wonderful vision and generosity.”