Arnold Beckman, 104, philanthropist

May 19, 2004|Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Arnold Beckman, whose scientific inventions spawned an empire that made him a fortune he used to help pay for a massive University of Illinois research facility, died yesterday. He was 104.

Mr. Beckman, who honed his skills as a young chemist in the labs at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, donated $40 million to the school in the 1980s. Pierre Wiltzius, director of the Beckman Institute for Advance Science and Technology, said Mr. Beckman was a visionary who promoted interdisciplinary research before the practice became popular. "His biggest contribution is really to see that in order to deal with these large, giant scientific problems . . . you need to have people from different scientific backgrounds working side-by-side," Wiltzius said.

Seventy years ago, Mr. Beckman invented a simple method to measure the acidity of lemons. That invention, now known as the pH meter, spawned a scientific instrument empire called Beckman Instruments.

The firm's numerous advances made it a pioneer in its field and made Mr. Beckman rich.

"I accumulated my wealth by selling instruments to scientists," Mr. Beckman is quoted as saying on the Beckman Foundation Web site. "So I thought it would be appropriate to make contributions to science, and that's been my No. 1 guideline for charity." By the time he celebrated his 100th birthday, he had given $270 million to support research.