A salute to the late Bob Beyster: scientist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and advocate for employee ownership

July 26, 2024 – Dr. J. Robert Beyster, the U-M alumnus and philanthropist whose gift led to the naming of the Bob and Betty Beyster Building, would have been 100 years old today. Beyster passed away at the age of 90 on December 22, 2014.

The Bob and Betty Beyster Building, home of the Computer Science and Engineering Division at the College of Engineering, was named in recognition of a $15 million gift to the college by the Beyster family in 2012. That gift  provided support for capital improvements, entrepreneurial programs, and endowment of the J. Robert Beyster Computational Innovation Graduate Fellows Program.

A Michigan native, Beyster enlisted in the Navy during World War II, eventually serving on a destroyer. He was a four-time U-M alumnus with degrees in engineering and physics, including a doctorate in physics. 

Beyster’s primary areas of interest were national security and nuclear reactor physics. After a brief stint with Westinghouse’s atomic power division, he traveled to New Mexico to work as a research physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

In 1969, Beyster founded Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the largest employee-owned research and engineering firm in the United States. He was also the founder and president of the Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED), which is focused on fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and ownership. 

Beyster was particularly well known for his employee ownership philosophy: “Someone who is involved with the company should own a piece of it.” One of the Beyster family’s favorite, related, sayings of his was “No one is as smart as all of us.” 

Beyster believed in this philosophy and as a result, SAIC grew into one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. His trust in the power of employee ownership also led him to create the FED.

Amongst the many recognitions Beyster received for his accomplishments, he was named an Honorary Program Manager by DARPA for “for his distinguished contributions to the agency over his career.” He received the Engineering Manager of the Year Award in 2000 from the American Society of Engineering Management, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Ernst & Young in 2003, and the “Supporter of Entrepreneurialism” award from Arthur Young and Venture magazine. 

The Horatio Alger Association for Distinguished Americans selected Beyster to be a 2008 Horatio Alger Award recipient. In 2008, Beyster was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

Beyster wrote or co-authored approximately 60 publications and reports, including the books The SAIC Solution: How we built an $8 Billion Employee-Owned Technology Company, the updated second edition The SAIC Solution: Built by Employee Owners, and Names, Numbers, and Network Solutions: The Monetization of the Internet.