John and Janet Beck Science Scholarship

The seed for the Beck scholarship was actually sown 30 years before it sprouted. Before being elected to the board of regents in 1975, John Beck had been a lifelong Lutheran. He was interested in helping the fledgling college in Southern California become a strong, viable institution. Once elected a regent, he served for 20 years, proving his worth in many ways.

As a regent John served as a member of the chapel steering committee and chaired both the Board of Regents academic affairs standing committee and the presidential search committee that selected Jerry Miller as CLC president in 1981. John also was chair of the Board of Regents for three years and was the recipient of the Distinguished Service award in 1996.

All of this was John’s volunteer service which was in addition to his major commitment to the Boy Scouts of America of San Diego County. He and his wife Janet were parents of two sons, Paul and Jim. Janet was the perfect mate for John, letting him lead but always ready to support.

All through John’s life he had loved engineering and engineering physics. He had earned a master’s in the engineering sciences from California Institute of Technology and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin. He spent his professional life putting those skills to work. He was passionate about ecology and the global environment. He was also an entrepreneur, founding his own company that manufactured diesel fuel-ingested engines.

For several years before his death in January 2011, John had promoted his idea that engineering physics was the direction CLU should go with its physics program. His research showed that other liberal arts institutions were doing well with that kind of offering, and he firmly believed CLU had the quality of faculty and administrative leadership to be successful.

When the Becks established the John and Janet Beck Science Scholarship they designated it for science majors. However, they added the requirement that if and when CLU offers a degree in engineering physics, the scholarship will be awarded to students majoring in that field. The Becks’ involvement in the life of CLU has made a genuine difference in the institution it has become and will be.