Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
At a glance
Overview
Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation is a US private foundation based in Irvine, CA.
What they fund
Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.
Priority Areas
The Foundation supports leading-edge research in chemistry and the life sciences, broadly interpreted, with particular emphasis on methods, instruments and materials that open new avenues of research. It favours young investigators, new ideas and a variety of projects rather than large, established ones of long duration, and supports innovative, high-risk research. Through its annual grant programmes, it supports promising young scientists; its local community activities promote science education and excellence. Local community grants support organisations with innovative STEM/STEAM activities, including youth-focused projects in Orange County. Research programme applicants must be affiliated with a US non-profit or equivalent, while local community proposals must come from an eligible US nonprofit serving Orange County.
Themes
- Chemistry and life sciences research
- Research methods and instruments
- Young scientists
- STEM education
Geographic Focus
U.S.; Orange County, California.
What They Don't Fund
- Non-U.S. organizations or institutions
- U.S. National Laboratories or service academies
- Overhead and indirect costs
- General institutional expenses
- General fundraising campaign expenses, such as dinners and mass mailings
- As a grant or contribution for the benefit of any person other than the Awardee or as a contribution to unified funds or to a pooled fund that is itself used to award grants of any kind
- Social science, religious, political, or other research that does not fall within the Foundation’s areas of interest
- Beckman Young Investigator Program only: clinical research; clinical trials; single-target drug discovery projects
How to apply
Organisations can apply for Local Community Support Grants by email on a rolling basis, at least three months before the planned project start. Submit a project proposal addressing the listed considerations, a budget justification, and the organisation’s contact and identifying details.
Application success factors
- Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 92% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
- Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 706 grants to organisations were $26,000 or less.
What the foundation says:
- The Beckman Young Investigator Program favours innovative, high-risk proposals that promise significant advances and depart from existing research directions.
- Local community proposals are preferred when they build organisational capacity or provide seed funding for new programmes rather than support existing programmes on an ongoing basis.
- Awardees are required to report on research progress, publications, patents and finances throughout the award term.
Where grants go
From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2024.
Grant dollars by state
6 other states: 8%
Outside the US or with no state on the filing: 6%
- The largest single recipient received 13% of grant dollars to organisations.
- In tax year 2024, 92% of grant dollars went to organisations Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
- No grants were paid directly to organisations outside the US.
- 2% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.
Grants
How much do they typically give?
Share of 294 grants in tax year 2024 by size
Median $26,000 (tax year 2024)
The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:
- Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois · Research, general support & education$3,681,0002024 tax year
- Caltech Beckman Institute · Research, general support & education$3,681,0002024 tax year
- Stanford Beckman Center · Research, general support & education$2,564,0002024 tax year
- City of Hope Beckman Research Institute · Research, general support & education$1,923,0002024 tax year
- Uc San Diego Foundation · Research, general support & education$1,000,0002024 tax year
- Uci Beckman Laser Institute And Medical Clinic · Research, general support & education$641,0002024 tax year
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement · Research, general support & education$600,0002024 tax year
- University of Wisconsin-Madison · Research, general support & education$334,5852024 tax year
Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.
Officers and directors
- Dr Jeffrey Johnston — Vice Chairman
- Lynn Rahn — Treasurer
- Jacqueline Dorrance-Tomlinson — Secretary
- Dr Anne Hultgren — Executive Director & CEO
- Dr David Forbes — Director
- Heather Haworth — Director
- Kristen Monson — Director
- Dr Shiv Halasyyamani — Director
- Dr Ke Hu — Director
- Dr Anne McNeil — Director
- Dr Susan Wente — Director
- Dr Kent Hill — Director
- Dr Peng Jen — Director
- Dr Jane Buchan — Director
- Dr Phil Leduc — Director
- Steven Pizula — Director
- Shlomi Nachman — Director
- Dr Deborah Wuttke — Director
- Dr Annaliese Franz — Director
- Andrew Lyon PhD — Chairman
From the latest Form 990-PF filing
3 years of tax filings
| Year | Total expenses | Grants paid | Assets | Filing document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 tax year | $41,714,210 | $31,412,008 | $652,616,638 | Filing for 2022 tax year |
| 2023 tax year | $32,289,144 | $27,679,999 | $720,883,415 | Filing for 2023 tax year |
| 2024 tax year | $36,474,799 | $29,456,470 | $775,402,315 | Filing for 2024 tax year |
Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
Sources
Registers and filings
Other sources
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Applying to Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation?
Hinchilla drafts your answers around this funder's priorities, using your organisation's own documents.
No credit card required