Aaron Beck
Born 1921 · Age 105
American psychiatrist; developer of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT); inventor of the Beck Depression Inventory; professor at University of Pennsylvania; co-founder of the Beck Institute.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Providence, Rhode Island
Aaron Temkin Beck born to Elizabeth Temkin and Harry Beck, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.
Family purchased house in Providence
Family purchased house at 43/41 Sessions Street in the Blackstone neighborhood, indicating stable lower-middle-class upbringing.
Graduated Hope Street High School as valedictorian
Graduated valedictorian from Hope Street High School; adolescent interest in journalism noted.
Graduated Brown University magna cum laude
Brown University AB, elected to Phi Beta Kappa; received multiple academic prizes.
Earned MD from Yale Medical School
Graduated Yale School of Medicine with Doctor of Medicine degree; initially planned internal medicine practice.
Junior residency in pathology at Rhode Island Hospital
Completed a six-month junior residency in pathology following medical school.
Neurology residency at Cushing VA (multi-year)
Completed a three-year neurology residency at Cushing Veterans Administration Hospital in Framingham, MA.
Married Phyllis W. Beck
Married Phyllis W. Beck, later a prominent jurist; they remained married for 71 years.
Fellowship in psychiatry at Austen Riggs Center
Became psychiatric fellow at Austen Riggs Center (Stockbridge, MA), a center of ego psychology; fellowship lasted until 1952.
Assistant Chief of Neuropsychiatry, Valley Forge Army Hospital
Completed military service as assistant chief of the Department of Neuropsychiatry at Valley Forge Army Hospital.
Joined University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychiatry
Took up a teaching and research position in Penn's psychiatry department, beginning a career there that would span decades.
Published research on dream manifest content (1959)
With Leon J. Saul and a graduate student, published inventory-based research finding themes of loss and rejection in dreams of depressed patients.
Rejected by American Psychoanalytic Institute (first deferment)
Application to the American Psychoanalytic Institute was deferred/rejected in 1960, reflecting growing tensions with orthodox psychoanalysis.
Published Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
Published 'An inventory for measuring depression' (BDI), an influential self-report measure for depression severity.
Second deferment by American Psychoanalytic Institute
American Psychoanalytic Institute again deferred/rejected his membership (1961) amid skepticism about brief therapy outcomes.
Requested sabbatical and entered private practice
Took a sabbatical in 1962 and worked in private practice for five years, during which he made key clinical observations that shaped cognitive therapy.
First major Cognitive Therapy article: 'Thinking and Depression'
Published early influential article(s) (1963) outlining cognitive theory of depression and 'automatic thoughts'.
Published follow-up cognitive theory articles
Continued publishing on cognitive theory of depression (1964), strengthening evidence base for cognitive approaches.
Published 'The diagnosis and management of depression' (book)
Monograph (1967) helped bring Cognitive Therapy to the clinical and academic marketplace.
Published 'Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders' (book)
Major book (1975) codifying cognitive therapy principles and techniques.
First major randomized trial comparing CBT to medication published
Rush et al. (1977) showed Cognitive Therapy equaled medication efficacy for depression and better at preventing relapse.
Collaborated on Children's Depression Inventory development
Collaborated with Maria Kovacs on instruments for childhood depression; Children's Depression Inventory used BDI as a template.
Published 'Cognitive Therapy of Depression' (book with colleagues)
Co-authored clinician text that further disseminated CBT techniques.
UK replication of CBT vs medication published
Replication study (Blackburn et al., 1981) in the UK confirmed CBT results and aided international recognition.
Visiting scientist at Oxford University
Spent time at Oxford collaborating with UK CBT researchers; contributed to international dissemination.
Published Beck Hopelessness Scale
Published the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), another widely used clinical instrument.
Named one of five most influential psychotherapists
American Psychologist listed Beck among the five most influential psychotherapists of all time (July 1989).
Became Professor Emeritus at University of Pennsylvania
Retired from active faculty and assumed professor emeritus status at Penn.
Co-founded Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Co-founded the nonprofit Beck Institute with daughter Judith S. Beck to provide CBT training, resources, research, and clinical care.
Received Doctor of Humane Letters from Assumption College
Assumption College awarded him an honorary degree in recognition of his contributions to CBT.
Received Joseph Zubin Award
Honored for contributions to psychopathology and clinical science.
Awarded University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology
Received Grawemeyer Award recognizing influential psychological work.
Received Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award
One of the highest honors in medical research for clinical medical research on CBT and psychopathology.
Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Recognized as a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for contributions to psychiatry and psychology.
Published 'Schizophrenia: Cognitive theory, research, and therapy' (book)
Co-authored a definitive text on cognitive approaches to schizophrenia, expanding CBT's scope.
Received multiple honors (Bell of Hope, Sigmund Freud Award)
Received several recognitions in 2010 for lifetime contributions to mental health.
Received Edward J. Sachar Award and Prince Mahidol Award in Medicine
International and national honors recognizing impact on community and medical science.
Randomized trial and CT-R research published; Honorary degree from Yale
Published recovery-oriented cognitive therapy (CT-R) randomized trial work continued; Yale awarded an honorary degree in 2012.
Clinical trial: Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy initial RCT
Grant et al. (2012) randomized trial evaluating CT-R for low-functioning individuals with schizophrenia.
Received Kennedy Community Mental Health Award
Honored by The Kennedy Forum as an influential figure in community mental health.
CT-R six-month follow-up published; Medscape recognition
Follow-up results of CT-R (2017) published; Medscape named Beck the fourth most influential physician of the past century in 2017.
Career milestone: 25 books and 600+ articles reported
By 2019/2021 sources cited that Beck authored/co-authored 25 books and published over 600 professional journal articles.
Beck Institute training milestone reported
Beck Institute reported having trained over 28,000 health and mental health professionals from 130 countries (figure reported in Beck Institute material).
100th birthday celebrated
Marked 100th birthday on July 18, 2021; global recognition of his lifetime work.
Died in Philadelphia
Died in his sleep on November 1, 2021; remained President Emeritus of the Beck Institute and Emeritus Professor at Penn until death.
Beck Institute held virtual memorial
Beck Institute hosted a live virtual memorial honoring his life and legacy on December 8, 2021.
Key Achievement Ages
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