Recent Photos of the Cornell University Beck Center Construction
In June 2000 the Cornell Hotel School launched its campaign to create a 35,000-square foot teaching facility to be constructed on the east side of Statler Hall. Named for former Dean Robert Beck and his wife Jan, this state-of-the-art facility will provide an ideal learning environment. The first classes are scheduled to be taught in the Beck Center in the Fall of 2004.
Click here for more information about the Beck Center
Honoring Dean And Mrs. Beck
"The students were my first priority...The heart and soul of the whole program."
Former Dean Robert Beck '42,
reflecting on his tenure in the School of Hotel Administration
This new teaching center will be named for former Dean Robert Beck and Mrs. Jan Beck. Bob Beck '42 has served in many professional capacities as a professor; dean; visiting lecturer; management consultant; advisor; board member; member of local, state, national, and international organizations; and military man.
He was named the second dean of the Hotel School in 1961, following the retirement of his mentor and friend H. B. Meek. A Hotel School alumnus, he had previously served as an assistant professor (1954-57), associate professor (1957-60), and full professor (1960). Under his leadership the School of Hotel Administration underwent a major transition: from the time of his appointment as dean through the next 20 years, Bob Beck worked diligently to transform the Hotel School into an internationally recognized hospitality school. During his tenure the School doubled in size and became known as an important research center in the hospitality field.
As a professor and later as a dean, Bob Beck made students his first priority. Dean and Mrs. Beck's home was always an "extension" of Statler, with students affectionately referring to their residence as the Slaterville Hilton. Jan Beck was a key part of the lives of many Cornell hotelies, often hosting formal and informal social events and serving as a "mother" to many international students in addition to raising three daughters. Such was her contribution to their lives that Hotel students of the 1960s and 1970s dubbed her "the First Lady of Statler Hall."
The new Robert A. and Jan M. Beck Center will be a perpetual tribute to the lasting impact Bob and Jan Beck had on the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, and many generations of Cornell hotel students from around the world.
