ORANGE, Calif., May 5, 2005 - On the one-year anniversary of his death, Chapman University remembers Dr. Arnold O. Beckman, visionary scientist, inventor and benefactor, who died May 18, 2004 at the age of 104. The generosity of Dr. Beckman and his wife, Mabel, had a huge influence at Chapman, in Southern California and across the nation – indeed, they were numbered among the top philanthropists in the United States.

The relationship between Chapman and Dr. Beckman dates back some 40 years. In 1965, Chapman awarded him an honorary doctor of science degree, the first of 13 honorary degrees he would receive from various institutions. Chapman’s Beckman Hall, completed in 1998 and built with major support from the Irvine-based Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, houses the Argyros School of Business and Engineering (ASBE). The foundation has also supported Chapman’s science and computer labs, the Global Citizen Gala, American Celebration and many other campus programs.

Through his Beckman Foundation, Dr. Beckman gave nearly $300 million to support colleges and universities throughout the country. In addition to Chapman, his philanthropy supported the University of Illinois, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees; Caltech, where he earned his doctorate; Stanford University; the University of California and many others.

Arnold Orville Beckman was born April 10, 1900 in tiny Cullom, Ill., the son of a blacksmith. By his high-school graduation in 1918, he had already completed more than two years of university-level chemistry studies. After receiving his master’s at Illinois, he drove cross-country in a Model T with his bride Mabel to Pasadena. There, at Caltech, he earned his Ph.D. and joined the faculty.

It was the pH meter that made Dr. Beckman’s fame and fortune. Searching for a simple method to measure the acidity of California lemons, he invented the meter for use in citrus processing plants, selling so many that he decided to quit teaching in 1934 in order to run his new business, National Technical Laboratories (later renamed Beckman Instruments). His other groundbreaking inventions included the spectrophotometer and the potentiometer; he held 14 patents in all.

Fullerton-based Beckman Instruments grew into a company with more than 10,000 employees around the world and an income in excess of $2.2 billion annually. In 1982 it merged with SmithKline Corp., then spun off on its own again before acquiring Coulter Corp, becoming Beckman Coulter.

Dr. Beckman and his wife devoted themselves to philanthropy in their later years, with a plan to give away their entire fortune within their lifetime. Mabel died in 1989, and Dr. Beckman then reconfigured his foundation to be a foundation in perpetuity. He retired from the foundation at the age of 93.

“Arnold Beckman exemplified the meaning of the word ‘humanitarian,’” said George L. Argyros ’59, chairman of the Beckman Foundation and former U.S. ambassador to Spain and Andorra. “He is sorely missed by everyone who had the privilege to know him, and whose lives have been touched by his intellect, inventiveness and his wonderful vision and generosity.”