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Interview no.: 0014D
Date of interview: 18 June 1991
Location: Irvine, California
No. of pages: 61
Interviewer:
James J. Bohning
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 fourth in a series with Arnold O. Beckman, begins with Beckman’s recollections of his early chemical education. As a child, Beckman often experimented in his home laboratory. This aptitude for chemistry led him to take chemistry courses at the University of Illinois while he was still attending high school. After graduation, Beckman joined the marines and met his wife, Mabel, at a Red Cross dinner in 1918. He then returned to the University of Illinois, where he worked on the synthesis of organic mercury with Speed Marvel. Beckman’s mercury poisoning, which resulted from this research, led Beckman to change his emphasis from organic chemistry to physical chemistry. After completing his M.S. at the University of Illinois, Beckman accepted a teaching assistantship at Caltech, where, in 1928, he received a Ph.D. in photochemistry. He eventually left Caltech, devoting all of his time to his business, which developed such instruments as the DU spectrophotometer, the dosimeter, and oxygen analyzers. The interview concludes with Beckman’s assessment of the ethical standards of business and science.
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| Title & Description |
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Page No. |
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Early Life
Experiments in home lab as a child. Chemistry courses at University of Illinois.
Encouragement of Professor Adams. Joining the marines. |
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1 |
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Research
Work with Speed Marvel. Mercury poisoning. Influence of Richard Chase Tolman. Study at Caltech. |
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16 |
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University of Illinois
Influence of Speed Marvel. Decision to study chemical engineering. |
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26 |
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Technological Developments
Announcement of DU. Development of pH meter. Decision to leave Caltech. |
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31 |
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Beginning Beckman Instruments
Finding offices. Overhead and expenses. Associates. Attempt to develop dosimeter. Attempt at secondary oil recovery via water flooding. Past associates. |
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40 |
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Conclusion
Ethics of electronics industry. Loyalty of Beckman employees. Ethical standards of
scientists in academia. Methodology of chemistry. |
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53 |
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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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| Beckman Instruments, Inc. |
| 1940-1965 |
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President |
| 1942-1943 |
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Instructor |
| 1965-Present |
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Chairman of the Board |
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| Helipot Corporation |
| 1944-1958 |
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President |
| 1974-1976 |
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Visiting Professor |
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| Bell Telephone Laboratories |
| 1924-1926 |
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Research Engineer |
| 1942-1948 |
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Research Chemist |
| 1948-1952 |
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Assistant Director, Department of Organic Chemistry and Biomedical Research |
| 1952-1956 |
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Director, Medicinal Chemistry |
| 1956-1962 |
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Director, Department of Synthetic Organic Chemistry |
| 1962-1966 |
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Executive Director, Fundamental Research |
| 1966-1969 |
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Vice President for Basic Research |
| 1969-1976 |
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President, Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories |
| 1976-1982 |
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Senior Vice President for Science and Technology |
| 1982- |
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Retired |
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| California Institute of Technology |
| 1926-1929 |
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Instructor |
| 1929-1940 |
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Assistant Professor |
| 1982- |
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Director and Consultant |
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| National Inking Appliance Company |
| 1934-1934 |
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Vice President |
| 1984- |
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Consultant |
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| Arnold O. Beckman, Inc. |
| 1946-1961 |
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Research Associate |
| 1946-1958 |
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President |
| 1961-1967 |
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Senior Scientist |
| 1967-1969 |
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Manager, Exploratory Process Research |
| 1969-1982 |
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Manager, Central Research Laboratory, Princeton, N.J. |
| 1982-1984 |
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Scientific Advisor |
| 1984- |
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Retired |
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| National Technical Laboratories |
| 1937-1939 |
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Vice President |
| 1939-1940 |
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President |
| 1993- |
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Adjunct Professor, Chemical Engineering |
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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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James J. Bohning is professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he was a
faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970
to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of
the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the
division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and has presented more than forty papers at
national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s
National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is
currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical
Heritage Foundation, and he was the foundation’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995.
From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American
Chemical Society. He is currently a visiting research scientist and CESAR Fellow at Lehigh
University. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the
Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society.
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