Irvine : Academies of Sciences Plans Ground Breaking

Ground-breaking ceremonies for the western headquarters of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering near UC Irvine has been set for Oct. 7, according to Gail Porter, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based research organization.

The center, named for Orange County industrialist Arnold O. Beckman and his wife Mabel, who donated $20 million for it, will be built on a $6-million, seven-acre site across from the UCI campus donated by the Irvine Co.

Porter said current projections call for a 45,000-square-foot building and conference center at the corner of University Drive and California Road, to be completed by early 1988.

Speakers slated for the invitation-only ceremony include Beckman, National Academy of Sciences President Frank Press, National Academy of Engineering President Robert M. White, as well as “leaders from the state and local, academic, industrial, civic and political communities,” Porter said.

The 1,500-member National Academy of Sciences was chartered by Congress in 1863 and operates on a $100-million annual budget. Since its establishment, the academy has been divided into several organizations, including the 1,200-member National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council. The group serves as an “official adviser to the federal government on matters of science and technology,” Porter said.

Beckman, 86, is founder and chairman of Beckman Instruments of Fullerton, now part of SmithKline Beckman Corp. In recent years, Beckman has made gifts and grants of more than $150 million to various research organizations.