Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Beckman Institute [PAGE 5]

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would require some matching participation on the part of the I niversity of Illinois and I knew the Governor would be instrumental in bringing that about. What we do here today is important for what the Beckman Institute will be It will be the largest, most comprehensive, most sophisticated scientific building ever constructed on the campus of the University of Illinois. Hut the Beckman Institute is important even more for what it will do; it will bring together the communities of the physical and the biological scientists on our campus, students and faculty alike, in new and different ways and on a scale much larger and grander than attempted at any other time, not only at this University but any other university. Much of what has been planned for the Beckman Institute was the vision of Arnold Beckman himself. Dr. Beckman reviewed with great care several drafts of a proposal for the Institute. He offered several suggestions, emphasizing its interdisciplinary character, which is now so much a part of the concept of the Beckman Institute that we are tempted to believe it was solely our own idea! It was Dr. Beckman who urged us to bring together scholars from disparate fields in ways that we had not earlier attempted. The genius, the vision of the idea in Dr. Beckman's mind, was also joined by a stern practicality. I began to have my first flutterings of encouragement when Dr. Beckman began to press me on precisely how this Institute would operate, how it would be organized, how it would function, and how quickly we thought we could bring it into reality. This is probably the best explanation of Dr. Beckman's success as a remarkable human being: joining together an incredible vision of what might be with a remarkable practicality in making dreams and visions come true.