After receiving his PhD and serving as a professor at the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Arnold Beckman founded Beckman Instruments in 1935 with the invention of the acidimeter. Designed to measure acidity levels in lemon juice, the acidimeter turned out to be a forerunner of the modern pH meter. It quickly became an indispensable tool in analytical chemistry and earned him a place in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1987, joining other great inventors like Thomas Edison and Alexander Bell. Dr. Beckman was deeply grateful to the scientific community that nurtured his success and, consequently, directed his philanthropic efforts to the life sciences. Through the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, Dr. and Mrs. Beckman generously contributed to the advancement of education and research.
Established in 1997, The Beckman Scholars Program is an invited program for accredited universities and four-year colleges in the United States. It provides scholarships that contribute significantly in advancing the education, research training and personal development of select students in chemistry, biochemistry, and the biological and medical sciences. The sustained, in-depth undergraduate research experiences and comprehensive faculty mentoring are unique in terms of program scope, content and level of scholarship awards ($19,300 for two summers and one academic year). The program was established at UT Austin in 1999 by Dr. Shear and has continued every year since due to her initiative and persistence.
The selection process for the UT Beckman Scholarship is extensive and demanding. The process itself is an opportunity for the applicants to experience the rigors of high-level academic work. Director Shear and a panel of Faculty Mentors sort the applicants into finalists and semifinalists. The semifinalists must propose a research project that is new to them and they are subjected to a PhD style oral examination. In a given year there can be as many as 120 applicants for six scholarships and the quality of the applicants is exceptional. With the inception of the Freshman Research Initiative the applicant pool has grown increasingly more competitive.
Presently there are four scholars participating in the Beckman program and one alumnus. The 2008-2009 scholars are Lynne Chantranupong and Devin A. Matthews. Lynn’s faculty mentor is Professor George Georgiou, and Devin’s mentor is Professor John Stanton. Travis Turner, who works under the mentorship of Professor Stephen F. Martin, and Matt Wellborn, who works with Faculty Mentor Graeme Henkelman, are the 2009-2010 Beckman Scholars. Nathan Froemming was a 2006-2007 scholar and continues to work with Professor Keith Stevenson.
The research of the scholars is wide-ranging and rigorous. Chantranupong’s research is aimed at “novel cancer therapies using arginine deaminase”, while Matthews work in theoretical chemistry seeks to “extend the equation of motion coupled cluster method to biradicals.” Turner’s goal is to develop a “more concise syntheses of isopavine alkaloids and their analogs” to ultimately produce an “ NMDA receptor antagonist that may provide a neuroprotective effects”. Wellborn uses statistical modeling to “simulate the kinetics of nanoparticles over long timescales in order to characterize the mechanism of rearrangement of these nanoparticles, as well as predict the timescale over which rearrangement occurs.” Froemming uses “genetic evolutionary algorithms” with the aim of “designing better fuel cell catalysts”.
There are several interesting common denominators among the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 scholars. None of the scholars began their undergraduate careers as chemistry or biochemistry majors, but transferred from applied programs of study to the research oriented programs the department offers. Unlike previous years, virtually all of the scholars envision themselves working in academia. When asked how the scholarship has been beneficial to them, all replied that it makes possible sustained research, and it allows them to travel to and participate in conferences and symposia they would otherwise not be able to attend.
As Faculty Mentor, Professor Karen Browning, puts it, “The Beckman Scholars program offers students and faculty a unique opportunities. For students, the support allows them to devote more time to their research and to present their research at Beckman Research Conference to their peers and other faculty. For faculty, it is a great experience to have highly motivated and talented undergraduates to work on high-level research projects in their laboratory.” The Beckman Mentors include Drs. Eric Anslyn, Karen Browning, Andy Ellington, George Georgiou, Graeme Henkelman, Brent Iverson, Stephen Martin, Rick Russell, Christine Schmidt, Jonathan Sessler, Jason Shear, John Stanton, Scott Stevens, Keith Stevenson, and Grant Willson.
The highlight of the year for the Beckman Scholar is the Beckman Scholar Research Symposium held for one week each summer at the foundation headquarters in Irvine, California. Scholars from around the country gather for poster sessions, research presentations, panel discussions, and presentations by leading figures from industry, academia, and national government laboratories. Nobel Laureates not only present talks, but they mingle with the scholars at meals and poster sessions throughout the entire week. Scholars in their second year of the program are asked to present their research and participate in the poster session.
The strength of the Beckman Scholars Program lies in having a central person to coordinate the program. At UT Austin that person is Dr. Ruth Shear. It might be said that she more than coordinates the program, but, along with the scholars and mentors, is the program. Shear wrote the initial 1999 application for the program and has successfully retained the program since. By way of Shear’s efforts the Foundation tracks its scholars over the course of their careers—not just where they are, and whom they are working for, but also every paper each scholar produces. Because there are so many outstanding applicants, Dr. Shear also directs those undergraduates not receiving scholarships into faculty research groups. She also provides a forum for undergraduates to meet and talk about their science. The weekly Research Focus Group is aimed at honing students’ communication skills regarding their science—whether it be writing an abstract, discussing a poster, or describing their science to someone unfamiliar with their work. Dr. Shear is especially proud of the success her Beckman Scholars are achieving. Since 1999 there have been 26 scholars.Eight scholars have been Dean’s Scholars, one has gone on to win an NSF graduate fellowship, and the program has produced its first professor.
Applications are being accepted for the 2010 Beckman Scholarships. Please visit http://rshear.cm.utexas.edu/beckman/ for more information.
