Remembering Robert Beck

The School of Law shares the saw news of the passing of former faculty member Robert E. Beck, who died Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, in Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis,  at the age of 76.  Professor Beck last visited Grand Forks this past fall during UND’s Homecoming to celebrate UND School of Law alumnus Owen Anderson’s 2013 Sioux Award.

Professor Beck was born April 24, 1937, in Aitkin, Minn., to Ernest and Elna (Salmela) Beck and grew up in Palisade, Minn. He obtained a JB.S.L. in 1958, a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree in 1960 from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Law (LL.M.) degree in 1966 from New York University. From 1962 to 1976 he was an assistant professor and professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law. In 1976 he joined the Southern Illinois University Carbondale law faculty and retired August 2002.

Over his career, Professor Beck wrote and lectured extensively on all aspects of natural resources law. He held offices and was a member of numerous committees and panels at the local, state, regional, national and international levels. He authored and co-authored chapters for, and served as editor-in-chief of, Waters and Water Rights, from 1991 through 2008.

Professor Beck was the recipient of various awards including The Order of the Coif (1960), The Chester Fritz Distinguished Professorship (University of North Dakota, 1975), The Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor Emeritus (University of North Dakota, 1987), SIU Law School Faculty Scholar of the Year (1995) and The Clyde O. Martz Teaching Award (Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 2007).

Professor Beck was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters in infancy, a sister, Violet Satterwhite; brothers, Jim and Stanley and one nephew.  Survivors include sisters-in-law, Esther Beck of Flagstaff, Ariz., and Velda Beck of Cloquet, Minn.; three nieces; two nephews; a great-niece; two great-nephews and an extended family of colleagues at SIU.

–School of Law