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Interview no.: 0014C
Date of interview: 24 November 1989
Location: Irvine, California
No. of pages: 36
Interviewer:
Arnold Thackray
Minutes:
Access level: Special Research Status. Transcript remains unedited or lightly edited due to the interviewee’s request or incapacitation or to CHF’s discretion. Transcript may not contain an abstract, table of contents, or index. Users may view the oral history with the permission of CHF; however, users are not allowed to quote from, cite, or reproduce the oral history.
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This interview, the third in a series with Arnold O. Beckman, begins with Beckman’s comments on the decision of Beckman Instruments to go public in 1952. In the 1950s, Beckman Instruments also began to significantly expand its overseas ventures, and Beckman himself spent much of his time travelling throughout Europe. During World War II, Beckman was approached by the MIT Radiation Laboratory to produce its recently-developed Helipot for the country’s radar program. In the mid-1950s, Beckman Instruments developed several other important pieces of technology, including the ultracentrifuge, the glass electrode pH meter, and the Moore-Stein amino acid analyzer. The company also began to expand into biological instruments, a result of the discovery that many of its previous instruments had significant implications for the molecular sciences. In the 1960s, Beckman became involved in politics, helping to found the Lincoln Club of Orange County. Much of his time was also spent in the administration of various non-profit foundations, and the interview concludes with his reflections on the importance of philanthropy.
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| Title & Description |
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Page No. |
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Beckman Instruments
Process of going public. Expansion overseas. |
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1 |
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Technology
Acquiring Spinco and the ultracentrifuge. Development of Moore-Stein amino acid
analyzer. Gradual inclusion of biological instruments. Creation of glass electrode pH meter. Development of the Helipot for radar program. |
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11 |
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Involvement in Politics
Founding of Lincoln Club of Orange County. Support of Richard Nixon. |
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19 |
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Philanthropy
Decision to fund facilities. Involvement in System Development Foundation. Interdisciplinarity of interests. |
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24 |
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| 1922 |
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B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois |
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| 1923 |
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M.S., Physical Chemistry, University of Illinois |
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| 1928 |
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Ph.D., Photochemistry, California Institute of Technology |
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| California Institute of Technology |
| 1926-1929 |
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Instructor |
| 1929-1940 |
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Assistant Professor |
| 1938-1939 |
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Assistant |
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| Bell Telephone Laboratories |
| 1924-1926 |
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Research Engineer |
| 1940-1946 |
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Research Assistant, Bartol Research Foundation and Project Engineer |
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| Helipot Corporation |
| 1944-1958 |
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President |
| 1951-1955 |
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Research Chemist |
| 1955-1958 |
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Research Manager |
| 1958-1965 |
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Research Director |
| 1965-1969 |
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Group Technical Director |
| 1969-1972 |
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Manager X-Ray Systems |
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| Arnold O. Beckman, Inc. |
| 1946-1958 |
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President |
| 1972-1975 |
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President |
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| Beckman Instruments, Inc. |
| 1940-1965 |
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President |
| 1965-Present |
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Chairman of the Board |
| 1975-1980 |
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Vice President, Research and Development, Diagnostics Division |
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| National Inking Appliance Company |
| 1934-1934 |
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Vice President |
| 1984- |
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Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Bio-Engineering (now emeritus) |
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| National Technical Laboratories |
| 1937-1939 |
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Vice President |
| 1939-1940 |
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President |
| 1986-2000 |
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Publisher and Editor-in-Chief |
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| 1960 |
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Illinois Achievement Award, University of Illinois
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| 1964 |
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Chairman, Board of Trustees, California Institute of Technology
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| 1965 |
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Honorary Sc.D. degree, Chapman College
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| 1969 |
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Honorary LL.D. degree, University of California at Riverside
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| 1969 |
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Honorary LL.D. degree, Loyola University in California
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| 1974 |
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Scientific Apparatus Makers Association Award
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| 1977 |
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Honorary LL.D. degree, Pepperdine University
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| 1977 |
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Honorary Sc.D. degree, Whittier College
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| 1977 |
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Arnold O. Beckman Conference in Clinical Chemistry, established by American Association for Clinical Chemistry
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| 1980 |
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Arnold O. Beckman Professorship of Chemistry, established by California Institute of Technology
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| 1981 |
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Hoover Medal, American Association of Engineering Societies
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| 1981 |
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Life Achievement Award, Instrument Society of America
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| 1982 |
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Diploma of Honor, Association of Clinical Scientists
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| 1987 |
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Vermilye Medal, The Franklin Institute
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| 1987 |
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National Inventors Hall of Fame, Washington, D.C.
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| 1988 |
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National Medal of Technology
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| 1989 |
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Charles Lathrop Parsons Award, American Chemical Society
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| 1989 |
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National Medal of Science
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Arnold Thackray is president of the Chemical Heritage Foundation. He majored in the physical sciences before turning to the history of science, receiving a Ph.D. from Cambridge University in 1966. He has held appointments at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1983 he received the Dexter Award from the American Chemical Society for outstanding contributions to the history of chemistry. He served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania for more than a quarter of a century. There, he was the founding chairman of the Department of History and Sociology of Science, where he is the Joseph Priestley Professor Emeritus.
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