Theodric Romeyn Beck
Born	(1791-04-11)April 11, 1791 Schenectady, New York, US
Died	November 19, 1855(1855-11-19) (aged 64)
Occupation(s)	physician and academic
Academic background
Alma mater	Union College Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Academic work
Discipline	medical jurisprudence
Institutions	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Western New York Albany Academy Albany Medical College
Notable works	Elements of Medical Jurisprudence

Theodric Romeyn Beck (April 11, 1791 – November 19, 1855), alternativelyTheodoric Romeyn Beck orT. Romeyn Beck, was an American physician inAlbany, New York, specializing inmedical jurisprudence who authored the first significant American book onforensic medicine,Elements of Medical Jurisprudence in 1823.

Beck was born inSchenectady, New York, to the family of Caleb Beck of English descent. He graduated fromUnion College at the age of 16 and theColumbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons with anM.D. at the age of 20 before going into practice in Albany in 1811. In 1813 he presented to the Albany Society of Arts a comprehensive paper on the mineral resources of the United States. In 1815 he was appointed professor of the institutes of medicine, and lecturer on medical jurisprudence in theCollege of Physicians and Surgeons of Western New York, atFairfield. Beck was also elected a member of theAmerican Antiquarian Society in 1815.^[1] He served as theprincipal of theAlbany Academy from 1817 to 1848, where he encouraged the future curator of theSmithsonian Institution,Joseph Henry, to enroll as a student and later serve as a professor of mathematics andnatural philosophy in 1826. Also during this time, he was a professor of medical jurisprudence at Fairfield Medical College from 1826 until 1836, and professor ofmateria medica in that institution from 1836 till 1840, and atAlbany Medical College from 1840 until 1854. He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1839.^[2]

In 1823, while secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts (SPUA), he founded the Albany Lyceum of Natural History, which focused on the preservation of mineral and botanical specimens collected in New York state surveys. The following year, SPUA and the Albany Lyceum of Natural History merged to form the Albany Institute;Stephen Van Rensselaer III was appointed its president and Beck was appointed its vice president. He was chosenpresident of the New York State Medical Society in 1829, and became a manager of the statelunatic asylum before becoming president of the Board of Managers in 1854. During his service, he collected statistics ondeaf-mutes, which influenced the legislature to pass laws for the education of thementally ill. In addition, from 1849 to 1853 he edited theAmerican Journal of Insanity.

His principal work wasElements of Medical Jurisprudence. His brotherJohn Brodhead Beck, also a physician, contributed the material oninfanticide. The first edition was printed in 1823, a seventh edition was issued inLondon in 1842, with notes by Dunlap and Darwell, and a tenth in Albany in 1850.

Beck also contributed to numerous scientific journals. Another of his brothers,Lewis Caleb Beck, wrote a noted book on theMineralogy of New York (1842).

• An inaugural dissertation on insanity (1811)
• On the utility of country medical institutions (1825)
• Statistics of the deaf and dumb in the State of New-York, the United States, and in various countries of Europe (1837)

This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(July 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J., eds. (1900)."Beck, Theodoric Romeyn" .Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.

• Frank H. Hamilton (1861)."Theodric Romeyn Beck 1791–1855". In Samuel David Gross (ed.).Lives of Eminent American Physicians of the 19th Century. Lindsay & Blakiston. pp. 776–795.ISBN 9780608421261.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Thomas Hall Shastid (1920). "Beck, Theodric Romeyn (1791–1855)". In Howard A. Kelly and Walter L. Burrage (ed.).American Medical Biographies. The Norman, Remington Company. pp. 87–88.
• Chester R. Burns (1999). "Beck, Theodric Romeyn".American National Biography (online ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1200069. (subscription required)
• "Beck, Theodoric Romeyn".Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1928–1990.
• "Beck, Theodoric Romeyn" .The American Cyclopædia. 1879.

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