1997: A new idea for the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation: The Beckman Scholars Program

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L. Donald Shields, ldonss@cox.net, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, PO Box 13219, Newport Beach, CA 92658
After an extensive review of the status of undergraduate research programs, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation concluded that a Beckman Scholars Program could provide unique opportunities for excellence through sustained, in-depth, faculty mentored undergraduate laboratory research experiences for a group of our nation's most talented and most gifted chemistry and biological sciences undergraduates. The Foundation concluded that these experiences would significantly advance the education, research training and personal development of these student participants. In addition, the Foundation believed that the Beckman Scholars Program would add significant stature and stimulate greater awareness of the importance of providing quality undergraduate research opportunities at our nation's universities and colleges. I will discuss some of the important elements of the program which now, after ten years, make it the most distinctive merit-based undergraduate research program in the nation and which sustain both Dr. Arnold Beckman's belief that “there is no satisfactory substitute for excellence,” as well as his commitment to the development of young scientific leaders.