“The entrepreneur is near and dear to our hearts,” Ken Beall, part of the Beall Family Foundation, recently told the Business Journal.
But you don’t have to take his word for it; the family’s actions speak for themselves.
The Newport Beach-based foundation has donated more than $30 million to the commercialization branch of University of California-Irvine, including a $16.6 million gift received last year, good for the No. 2 spot on the Business Journal’s list of Largest Charitable Gifts of 2019 (see list, page 22).
The gift also prompted a title change in the family’s honor; the center now bears the name UCI Beall Applied Innovation.
Family Values w
Most recently, the Beall Family Foundation funded the creation of Orange County’s first wet lab incubator, which is located at Applied Innovation’s new 100,000-square-foot facility at UCI Research Park. The expansion was profiled in the Dec. 23 print edition of the Business Journal.
“We really believe in [Applied Innovation’s] mission to increase collaboration between the academic community and business community,” Ken Beall said. “It is fundamental to get intellectual property to benefit society.”
The University Lab Partners incubator continues that goal. It provides entrepreneurs with specialized equipment to develop cutting-edge technology and interact with like-minded individuals.
Ken noted that his father, Don Beall, chairman emeritus, is very involved with both programs and has a lot of firsthand experience taking fundamental research and turning it into commercialized technology.
“That idea drives through the family,” he added. “We strongly believe that entrepreneurship is a core value.”
Faculty Spotlight
The wheels never stop turning at Beall Applied Innovation.
It’s newest innovation to come to life: the Faculty Innovation Fellows program, which recognizes faculty with a record of translating research into viable products and business ventures.
The program named its inaugural 17 members this month. They will serve for two years as advisers to other colleagues and participate in the Distinguished Speakers Series at UCI.
Several of the chosen candidates have caught the Business Journal’s attention in recent years, including Weian Zhao, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences and the co-founder of two Irvine-based startups, Amberstone Biosciences and Velox Biosystems.
Also involved is Gregory Weiss, professor of chemistry, molecular biology and biochemistry and pharmaceutical sciences, who was integral to the launch of Irvine-based PhageTech Inc. and Debut Biotechnology Inc. in San Diego.
