The Beckman Institute has honored Jeffrey Moore with its annual Vision and Spirit Award for faculty. The award celebrates a faculty member who has fostered collaboration in their research and exemplifies founder Arnold Beckman's vision.
Beckman Institute Director Steve Maren made the announcement at the Nov. 4, 2026, Beckman-Brown Lecture, which hosted speaker Bruce Tromberg, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the National Institutes of Health. Maren also announced staff member Tracy Mathews is Beckman’s newest Spirit and Dedication Award winner.
Moore is the Stanley O. Ikenberry Research Professor, and a research professor of chemistry. He served as Beckman’s director from 2017 until 2022. He’s a member of Beckman’s Autonomous Materials Systems working group.
Fifteen of Moore’s peers nominated him for the Vision and Spirit Award, citing his leadership in starting research collaborations, personal invitations to join Beckman’s research community, support of junior faculty members, mentorship for students and postdocs and enthusiasm for outreach and science communication.
“He is perhaps the most thoughtful, insightful and kind senior faculty I have encountered on Illinois’ entire campus, and he is always willing to help nurture excellence in young faculty, graduate students and postdocs,” wrote nominator Nick Jackson, a chemistry faculty member and leader of Beckman’s Artificial Intelligence for Materials working group.
Anna Cramblitt, a graduate student in the AMS group, wrote about Moore’s catching enthusiasm for outreach work.
“Jeff has put a lot of his time and energy into promoting communication and outreach within our research group and helping us get plugged into the excellent outreach infrastructure at the Beckman Institute,” Cramblitt wrote. “He is unafraid to advocate for outreach opportunities, even when others are skeptical or uninterested… I have seen that advocacy and leadership change people's minds about the value of outreach.”
Moore, who created the award during his Beckman directorship, said it’s “a little overwhelming” to receive it.
“I look around Beckman and see so many people doing extraordinary things, often without much recognition,” he said. “I’m not entirely comfortable being singled out. But this award means a great deal to me because Beckman is the reason Illinois has remained the place I want to be throughout my career. I can’t imagine a more rewarding scientific home.”
That home brings together researchers with different strengths and a common goal. Moore said he’s spent his career learning from engineers who think differently.
“(Those who) make up our Autonomous Materials Systems group have continually inspired me to see where chemistry can open new possibilities,” he said. “Perhaps the most gratifying outcome has been watching our students and postdocs grow into scientists who think naturally across disciplinary boundaries. They leave with a scientific perspective none of us could have given them individually. I think Arnold Beckman would have appreciated that. Investing in the next generation was central to his vision.”
Moore credits Beckman’s staff for making the institute’s unique scientific environment possible.
“They remove obstacles, solve problems and make it easier for the rest of us to concentrate on science. Ashley Trimmell (the Moore Group’s research program manager) deserves a special shoutout for the extraordinary care she brings to everything she does. The AMS group has a very special spirit, and I’ve been fortunate to spend so much of my career surrounded by people who make science both exciting and fun,” Moore said. “This award may have my name on it, but it reflects a community that has given me far more than I could ever give back.”