Caltech Recipient of Beckman Scholars Program Award

PASADENA, Calif.— The California Institute of Technology has received a Beckman Scholars Program award to support and encourage research activities of Caltech's most exceptional undergraduates in biology, chemistry, and chemical engineering. From hundreds of applicants, Caltech was one of only 14 institutions to receive this prestigious award. The $105,600 award, given by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, will support six Beckman Scholars over a three-year period, from 2001 to 2003. The Beckman Scholars Program offers an outstanding opportunity for gifted undergraduate students to obtain in-depth, faculty-mentored, laboratory research experience. Each student named as a Beckman Scholar will perform research activities part-time during one academic year, and full-time over two summers, and will receive an award of $17,600. The students will collaborate closely with faculty mentors to define and develop their research projects. At the conclusion of the program, students will submit a full technical paper and give oral presentations, and many will become authors or coauthors of papers in refereed literature.

The Beckman Scholars Program provides an unparalleled opportunity for the most promising young scientists to engage in substantive research, to build a network of colleagues, and to achieve distinction in their academic careers. The program prepares these students to become future leaders in their professions and in their careers in industry.

Dr. Arnold O. Beckman and his wife, Mabel M. Beckman, established the foundation that bears their names in 1977. In 1934, while a professor of chemistry at Caltech, Beckman invented a pH meter, which became a widely used tool for analytic chemistry. He went on to found Beckman Instruments, Inc., and in 1940 he left Caltech to work full-time at his company. Beckman served as chairman of the Caltech Board of Trustees from 1964 to 1974, when he was elected chairman emeritus. He has received many honors for his technical, business, and civic contributions, including the Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award and the Robert A. Millikan Medal for distinguished service to the Institute. The foundation supports research primarily in the area of chemistry and the life sciences.

Contact: Deborah Williams-Hedges (626) 395-3227 debwms@caltech.edu Visit the Caltech Media Relations Web site at: http://pr.caltech.edu/media ###