The Beck family
The Beck family’s roots with the Weizmann Institute go back to the 1960s, when Tom and Mary took a trip to Israel. It was in Israel that they witnessed drip irrigation in farming for the first time. They were intrigued, and wanted to learn more. Some very astute guide pointed them to the doorstep of the Weizmann Institute. The Hungarian-born couple arrived in Toronto in the early 1950s from England, where H. Thomas Beck was educated in his teens and graduated as a High Voltage Electrical Engineer. The couple wed in 1954 and had three children, Anthony, Liddy, and Cathy.
Tom bought a small business with his mother, which grew into a successful multi-national electrical manufacturing company and became known as NOMA Industries Limited—a name now synonymous for many Canadians with holiday-season lights. With the passion of trailblazers, and a generosity of spirit, they both worked hard to participate fully in civic life. In March of 2016, Tom Beck passed away, at the age of 89; Mary died in August of 2018, aged 83. Tom and Mary were married for 60 years, and they operated as a unit—in their business and in their philanthropy. Their company, Noma Lites, became one of the largest producers of Christmas tree lights in North America.
Tom went on to champion the Institute in every way possible. Hosting dinners in Toronto. Asking—or telling—his friends to come. Giving generously. Leading by example. Their leadership on behalf of the Weizmann Institute in Canada set an example that all their friends wanted to follow. He served in many roles on the International Board, and was President of Weizmann Canada from 1985 to 1990.
They made their love for the Weizmann Institute clear to their children.
Tom and Mary Beck Center for Advanced and Intelligent Materials
After the passing of Tom and Mary, their children decided to dedicate part of the estate to the creation of the Tom and Mary Beck Center for Advanced and Intelligent Materials headed by Prof. Lior Kronik. The Tom and Mary Beck Center for Advanced and Intelligent Materials supports groundbreaking research on innovative materials conducted with an eye towards possible applications in medicine, building materials, and alternative energy.
It is a fitting legacy for Tom and Mary, who were instrumental in advancing the field of alternative energy research from its very earliest beginnings at the Institute. And now the Beck Center, which we are now calling the Beck C-AIM, will fund research that will lead to the creation of new materials of all kinds, with applications in alternative energy and energy storage. The new kinds of materials that will emerge from the Beck Center will have applications in other areas as well, including aerospace, medicine, and beyond. The Beck family has touched so many areas of science on this campus throughout the years, putting their faith in our scientists and in basic research and its vast applicative potential.
