Gail McKnight Beckman created the Beckman Award to benefit teachers who have inspired their former students to make a significant contribution to society. The award is given to current or former academic faculty members who have inspired their former students to “create an organization which has demonstrably conferred a benefit on the community at large.” Alternatively, the academic faculty member must have inspired their former students to “establish on a lasting basis a concept, procedure, or movement of comparable benefit to the community at large.”
Annual application deadlines
The Nomination Application Package must be submitted via email, in one single PDF, by June 15 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. See detailed instructions on the Grant Guidelines tab.
Contact information
Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award Trust
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Trustee
Philanthropic Services
MAC G0141-041
100 Terminus Building
3280 Peachtree Road, N.E.
Suite 400 Atlanta, GA 30305
grantadministration@wellsfargo.com
Program areas
Education
Public/society benefit
States served
All
Geographic limitations
United States only
Types of support
Award recipients receive a one-time cash award to be used at their sole discretion (taxable income).
Population served
Only United States citizens or permanent resident aliens are eligible.
Trustees
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Committee members
Dr. Nadine Kaslow, American Psychological Association
Ms. Millicent Bond, Bryn Mawr College
Dr. Melissa Begg, Columbia University
Debra Faulk, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Nomination application requirements
- Awards will be made in the United States only. Only United States citizens or permanent resident aliens are eligible.
- Award recipients must be current or former teachers, professors, or instructors at a college, university, junior college, community college, or technical school located in the United States. Preference will be given to educators who teach or who taught in the fields of psychology, medicine, or law.
- Award recipients must have inspired a former student who attended his or her class to either:
- Create an organization that has demonstrably conferred a benefit on the community at large; or
- Establish on a lasting basis a concept, procedure, or movement of comparable benefit to the community at large.
- Anyone may submit a Nomination Application Package.
- The trust's Advisory Committee reviews Nomination Application Packages and makes award decisions.
- Past recipients of this one-time award may not be nominated again.
Nomination application package
The Nomination Application Package must be submitted electronically via email to grantadministration@wellsfargo.com. The subject of the email should be "Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award Nomination Application Package." No faxed or mailed packages will be accepted.
Please compile the Nomination Application Package materials in one single PDF file using the following naming convention: Nominee Last Name-Nominator Last Name, e.g. Smith-Jones.
The Nomination Application Package must be assembled in one single PDF in the following order:
- Nomination Application Form. Each form must be typed, completed in its entirety, signed (no eSign please), and dated. No handwritten forms will be accepted.
- Optional cover letter. (Information contained in the body of the submission email message will not be shared with the review committee.)
- Former Student Personal Narrative Part I: A detailed explanation of how the nominee was the inspiration for the former student’s organization, concept, procedure, or movement.
- Former Student Personal Narrative Part II: Details how the organization, concept, procedure, or movement has benefited the community at large, how it established long-term change, and how it continues to make a positive impact. (2 page limit, typed, double spaced, signed)
- One (1) letter from an individual who supports, has benefited from, or who has been personally impacted by the former student's organization, concept, procedure, or movement. (1 page, typed, double spaced, signed – no eSign please)
- One (1) piece of supporting material about the former student's organization, concept, procedure, or movement. Picture files, links to website pages, brochures, fact sheets and other materials are permissible.
Annual nomination deadline
The Nomination Application Package must be submitted via email by the deadline of June 15 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
About the Foundation
The Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award Trust was established in 2008 under the Will of Gail McKnight Beckman. Wells Fargo Bank, N. A. serves as the trustee. Gail McKnight Beckman created the award in memory of her mother, Dr. Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman. Dr. Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman was an educator, a renowned author, and a pioneer in the field of Psychology. She was one of the first female Psychology professors at Columbia University and she taught at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Beckman authored nine books and textbooks about child and adolescent Psychology. Dr. Beckman was a champion of gender equality and an advocate for the advancement of women in academia.
A trailblazer in her own right, Gail McKnight Beckman created the Beckman award to benefit teachers who have inspired their former students to make a difference in their communities. The award is given to current or former academic faculty members who have inspired their former students to “create an organization which has demonstrably conferred a benefit on the community at large.” Or, the academic faculty member must have inspired their former students to “establish on a lasting basis a concept, procedure, or movement of comparable benefit to the community at large.”
Since 2010, the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award Trust has distributed more than $3.5 million to 148 professors throughout the United States.
Past recipients
2024
Na'im Akbar, Ph.D; Jeffrey E. Cassisi, Ph.D; Lois Hand-Buntz, MSW, CFRE; Pamela K. Keel, Ph.D; Jack A. Kirkland, MSW; Randy Krszjzaniek, MD; Christian P. Larsen, MD, D.Phil; Bonnie Simpson Mason, MD, FAAOS; Charles E. Moore, MD; Steven M. Roser, DMD, MD, FACS, FRCS(ED); Mikki Shaw, Ed.D
2023
Jennifer Propp, Ph.D., MSW; William C. Turner, M.D., FACP; Judith A.M. Scully; Nancy Zucker, Ph.D.; Norman B. Schmidt, Ph.D.; Susan Wiener, M.A., MS; Marie A. Chisholm-Burns, PharmD, Ph.D., MPH, MBA; Steve G. Voguit, M.Ed.
2022
Betty Blythe, Ph.D.; Penelope Buschman, MS, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN; Rocio Calvo, Ph.D.; Paul Dainer, MD, FACP; Hilda Hutcherson, MD, MS; Eduardo A. Lugo-Hernandez, Ph.D.; Sarah Paoletti, J.D.; Susan Jean Steiner, Ph.D.
2021
Yama Akbari, MD, Ph.D.; Stacey Borasky, Ed.D.; Linda Cushman, Ph.D.; Thomas Joiner, Ph.D.; Elaine Larson, Ph.D.; Jacqueline B. Mondros, D.S.W.; Pamela Hallock Muller, Ph.D.; Wallace Nichols, Ph.D.; John Weisz, Ph.D.
2020
Thomas F. Anders, Ph.D.; Edward Delgado-Romero, Ph.D.; Jean F. East, Ph.D.; Sandra Edmonds Crewe, Ph.D.; Matthew Barry Johnson, Ph.D.; Lucy Lang, J.D.; Sandra Murray Nettles, Ph.D.; Mandip Singh Sachdeva, Ph.D.; Sylvie Taylor, Ph.D.; Lynet Uttal, Ph.D.; Eric Youngstrom, Ph.D.
2019
Lucy Guerra, M.D., MPH; Guy Seymour, Ph.D.; Bernard Weiner, Ph.D.; Donald Eulert Ph.D.; Colleen T. Fogarty, M.D., MSc, FAAFP; Gregory Mantsios, Ph.D.; Michael W. Otto, Ph.D.; James M. Spears, M.D.; Cheryl Bodiford McNeil, Ph.D.; Scott Stanley, Ph.D.
2018
Elyn Saks, J.D.; Charles H. Zeanah Jr., M.D.; David L. Blustein, Ph.D.; Ross E. Cheit, J.D. and Ph.D.; James Allan Gash, J.D.; Patricia Perez, Ph.D.; Anna Mae Diehl, M.D.
2017
Joy Banks, Ph.D; Puncky Paul Heppner, Ph.D.; David John Lee, Ph.D.; Karen Mary O'Brien, Ph.D.; Christopher C. Whalen, M.D.; Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D.; Harold D. Grotevant, Ph.D.; Howard Kassinove, Ph.D.
2016
Geraldine Downey, Ph.D; W. Daniel Hale, Ph.D.; Brandie Prichett Johnson, Ph.D. on behalf of Lonnie Duncan, Ph.D. (deceased); John Strauss, M.D.; William Hoyt, Ph.D.; Jan Ewing, Ph.D.
2015
David M. Becker, J.D.; Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander, J.D.; Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor, Ph.D.; Michael Joseph Chorney, Ph.D.; Daniel Wallace Close, Ph.D.; Marie Anita Failinger; LLM, Ralph David Fertig, ABD for Ph.D.; Elizabeth Gerber, Ph.D.; K. Daniel O’Leary, Ph.D; Florence Wagman Roisman, LL.B.
2014
Hortensia Amaro, Ph. D.; Connie S. Chan, Ph. D.; Helen G. Durkin, Ph.D.; Randall W. Engle, Ph. D.; Lisa A. Goodman, Ph.D.; William Hellerstein, J.D.; Ann C. Hodges, J.D.; Stephen J. Morse, J.D., Ph.D.; Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D.; and David Weissbrodt, J.D.
2013
Florence L. Denmark, Ph.D.; Thomas G. Gutheil, M.D.; Suzanne B. Johnson, Ph.D.; Craig J. McClain, M.D.; Mark A. Meier, M.D.; Thomas W. Mitchell, J.D.; Velma M. Murry, Ph.D.; Clare Pastore, J.D.; David L. Penn, Ph.D.; and Joseph E. Trimble, Ph.D.
2012
Jerome Barron, J.D.; Ellen Beck, M.D.; Alberto Benitez, J.D.; Nancy Boyd-Franklin, Ph.D.; Laura Brown, Ph.D.; Tillman Farley, M.D.; Edna Foa, Ph.D.; Noreen Garman, Ph.D.; Richard Halgin, Ph.D.; Sharon Horne, Ph.D.; Nadine Kaslow, Ph.D.; Phyllis Katz, Ph.D.; Cato Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.; Nancy Oriol, M.D.; James Plumb, M.D.; Nicole Prudent, M.D.; Joan Reede, M.D.; Dan Rohlf, J.D.; Nancy Russo, Ph.D.; Sandra Shullman, Ph.D.; Carolyn Tucker, Ph.D.; and Joan Williams, J.D.
2011
Etiony Aldarondo, Ph.D.; Jessica Henderson Daniel, Ph.D.; Michelle Fine, Ph.D.; Howard S. Friedman, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Louise Glisky, Ph.D.; Janet E. Helms, Ph.D.; Marsha Marie Linehan, Ph.D.; Raymond P. Lorion, Ph.D.; Susan McDaniel, Ph.D.; Layli (Phillips) Maparyan, Ph.D.; Alice Anne Medalia, Ph.D.; Frances V. Mervyn, Ph.D.; Bonnie Ruth Strickland, Ph.D.; Stanley Sue, Ph.D.; and Bruce Wampold, Ph.D.
2010
Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.; Alan E. Kazdin, Ph.D.; Kathleen McDermott, Ph.D.; James O. Prochaska, Ph.D.; Judith Resnik, J.D.; and Claude M. Steele, Ph.D.
