in Corona del Mar near Newport Beach, California. They bought the house in 1960, renovated it, and lived there together until Mabel's death in 1989. Beckman also chose to retire. He and his wife Mabel became increasingly active as philanthropists, with the stated intention of giving away their personal wealth before their deaths. In 1964, Beckman was asked to become chairman of the Caltech Board of Trustees, and accepted the position. He had been a member of the board since 1953. In 1965, he retired as president of Beckman Instruments, and became instead the chairman of its board of directors. On November 23, 1981, he agreed to sell the company, which was then merged with SmithKline to form SmithKline Beckman. The Beckmans' first major philanthropic gift went to Caltech. In supporting Caltech, they expanded on the long-term relationship that Beckman had begun as a student at Caltech, and continued as a teacher and trustee. In 1962, they funded the construction of a concert hall, the Beckman Auditorium, designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone. Over a period of years, they also supported the Beckman Institute, Beckman Auditorium, Beckman Laboratory of Behavioral Sciences, and Beckman Laboratory of Chemical Synthesis at the California Institute of Technology. In the words of Caltech's president emeritus David Baltimore, Beckman "has shaped the destiny of Caltech." The Beckmans are also named in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the Beckman Quadrangle at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation was incorporated in September 1977. At the time of Beckman's death, the Foundation had given more than 400 million dollars to a variety of charities and organizations. In 1990, it was considered one of the top ten foundations in California, based on annual gifts. Donations chiefly went to scientists and scientific causes as well as Beckman's alma maters. He is quoted as saying, "I accumulated my wealth by selling instruments to scientists ... so I thought it would be appropriate to make contributions to science, and that's been my number one guideline for charity." In the 1980s, they funded five major centers: Beckman Research Institute (BRI) at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, United States. Beckman Laser Institute, University of California, Irvine, in Irvine, California Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine at Stanford