| Hubert Park Beck | |
| Birth Date: | 1907 |
| Death Date: | January 16, 1989 |
| Death Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Education: | Columbia University |
| Employer: | City College of New York |
| Occupation: | Educational psychologist |
| Spouse: | Dorothy Fahs |
| Children: | 1 daughter |
| Relatives: | Sophia Lyon Fahs (mother-in-law) |
Hubert Park Beck (1907 – January 16, 1989) was an American educational psychologist, and the writer of a book about the boards of trustees of 30 major U.S. universities.
Beck was born in 1907.[1] He earned a PhD in Educational Psychology from Columbia University in 1945.[2]
Beck began his career as a science teacher in Bronxville, New York.[1] In 1947, he became an assistant professor of Educational Psychology at the City College of New York. He remained a faculty member at CCNY for three decades, having been a full professor from 1969 to 1977.[2]
Beck was the secretary of the New York City chapter of the National Education Association. He served on the board of trustees of the New Lincoln School.[2] In 1986, he endowed a research doctoral dissertation grant program later known as the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation.[1]
Beck authored Men Who Control Our Universities, a book about the boards of trustees of 30 major U.S. universities, including state and private universities, in 1934-1935.[3] By studying the professions, income levels, ages, sexes and religions of trustees, Beck found that most of them were wealthy Protestant male businessmen, bankers or lawyers over 60.[3] [4] [5] Beck argued that the trustees lacked an understanding of the working class or the under-privileged, and he added that they had no experience with teaching or academic research or administration.[5] In a review for The Elementary School Journal, Thomas H. Hamilton of the University of Chicago agreed with Beck that the trustees' social status might be a problem, but he did not believe that appointing trustees with teaching or research experience would necessarily lead to better decisions.[3] He added that the topic was under-researched and that the book was "a competent volume."[3] Reviewing it for the American Sociological Review, Scott Nearing concluded, "His study substantiates and documents the oft-repeated observation that the same men who run the banks and factories and operate the railroads of the United States also control and direct the institutions of higher education."[4]
Beck married Dorothy Fahs, the daughter of Unitarian activist Sophia Lyon Fahs.[1] They had a daughter Rebecca, and they resided in Manhattan. He died on January 16, 1989, at age 81.[2]