OC Beckman Legacy Award

Student sign-ups for the 2023 program are closed. After registration forms are reviewed, all eligible students will be invited to participate in the program. Schedules regarding remote, in-person, or hybrid options will be coordinated with the Science-Teacher Mentors at that point.

Open to invited high schools only.

Contact the program administrator with any questions: [email protected] or 949-531-0400

Check it out: The 2022 Legacy Award recipients. See the announcement here. Congratulations to the awardees and great job to all the student participants.

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation announces the OC Beckman Legacy Award, a college scholarship competition with awards up to $16,000.

Participating students will work with a science teacher mentor during lab hours to complete a project build (initial materials provided by the Foundation). Inspired by the revolutionary tools of Dr. Arnold O. Beckman, students will perform experiments, create their own innovative experiment, report on experiment findings, and answer essay-style questions. Submitted projects will be evaluated by the Foundation using a panel of outside experts to select the award winners.

Initial instrument build materials and safety supplies will be provided by the Foundation.

For the Legacy Program, students will build their own Spectrophotometer--see more information about the spectrophotometer below.

High Schools must be invited by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation

• Students must be seniors the year they participate and be currently enrolled in a science class (cannot be enrolled in a non-credit science elective course). College-prep, honors, AP/IB, or junior college courses are acceptable.
• Students must have cumulative weighted GPA of 3.5 or higher.
• Students must be a United States citizen or permanent resident.
• Students must have plans to attend a 4-year non-profit United States Institution.
• Parent or legal guardian signatures required.

At the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, we acknowledge, appreciate and support the fundamental roles that diversity, equity and inclusion have in scientific progress and innovation. We seek applicants from all backgrounds in our programs and strive to ensure a fair and equitable process for selection of awardees, recognizing that excellent science is not the exclusive endeavor of one group of people, but of all. In an effort to avoid implicit and explicit bias in our review process, the Foundation will blind all information pertaining to applicants’ name, gender, ethnicity, citizenship status and high school information from reviewers.

Read our full statement here.

Hailed as “perhaps the single greatest instrument” of its era, the Beckman DU Spectrophotometer forever transformed the practice of chemistry and the life sciences. With speed and accuracy, it detected the “fingerprints” of life’s essential materials and moved chemistry from the academic laboratory directly into commercial production facilities. Dr. Beckman once said that if he had to pick one invention that had the most impact, it would be the spectrophotometer.

A spectrophotometer can determine what substances are present in a sample and exactly how much through calculations of observed wavelengths. The spectrophotometers span various scientific fields including biochemistry, physics, materials science, and molecular biology. Spectrophotometers can be found in most every lab and are widely used to measure enzyme activities determinations of protein concentration, determinations of enzymatic kinetic constants, and measurement of ligand binding reactions.

Students will build their own version of a spectrophotometer using interlocking plastic bricks to test the wavelengths of different substances and learn how to measure intensity. Students will also create their own experiment and are encouraged to be as innovative and creative as Dr. Beckman!

Check out the below videos (will open in YouTube) to learn more about the Spectrophotometer!

DU Spectrophotometer

IR Spectrophotometer