Arnold Beckman (B.S., 1922, chemical engineering; MS, 1923, chemical engineering) was a famed inventor, business man, and advocate for scientific research.

His accomplishments include:

• Inventing a portable pH meter, the Helipot, a precision electrical resistance device and the DU spectrophotometer
• Founding National Technical Laboratories, which exists today as Beckman Coulter Life Sciences
• Contributing, with wife Mabel, nearly $350 million to the advancement of research and education
• Founding the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, as well as:
• Beckman Institute at the California Institute of Technology
• The Beckman Laser Institute at the University of California at Irvine
• Stanford University's Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Engineering
• The Center for the History of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania
• The Beckman Research Institute at the City of Hope, an institute dedicated to the prevention and cure of life-threatening diseases