Inside The Archives: 2001 BYI Awardee Returns as 2025 Symposium Speaker

There are a few things that make this photograph special. It was taken at the 2001 Beckman Symposium where Dr. Arnold O. Beckman, at 101 years of age, attended, viewed posters, shook hands, and posed for photos. The Beckman Symposium was in its third year, and at the time, the event was specific to BYI awardees with another event held for Beckman Scholars. Here we see 1992 BYI Dr. Chad Mirkin (l) in attendance, alongside 1993 BYI Dr. Reg Penner (r). Dr. Mirkin’s BYI award focused on “chemically-modified, charge-dependent surfaces: a method for preparing multifunctional sensors.” Nearly 25 years after this photo was taken, Dr. Mirkin returned to the Beckman Symposium – as Keynote Speaker – and delivered a presentation titled, “Structural Nanomedicine: Blueprints for Better Drugs.” (Image: Beckman Foundation Collection)