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January 16, 2004
Aaron Beck, MD, Receives Awards from the Institute of Medicine
and the University of Louisville
(Philadelphia, PA) – Aaron T. Beck, MD, Professor Emeritus
of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,
has received the Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health
for the Year 2003 from the Institute of Medicine. The prize consists of a medal
and $20,000. Dr. Beck was also selected by the University of Louisville to receive
the Grawemeyer Award in psychology for the Year 2004. This award is a prize
of $200,000. Both honors recognize Beck’s outstanding and far reaching
contributions to psychiatry and mental health.
Beck, known as the “father of cognitive therapy,” sidestepped the
accepted theories of the day, most of which relied heavily on Freudian analysis,
and developed a pragmatic and highly productive technique for helping patients
deal with emotional disorders. Believing these disorders to be the result of
distortions of thoughts and/or biases, he showed patients how to successfully
use cognitive techniques to modify their thought processing and bring about
improvement of mood. Today, cognitive therapy is used around the world to treat
a wide range of conditions -- including depression, bulimia nervosa, obsessive
compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, schizophrenia, substance
abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Over the years, Beck has received funding from the National Institute of Mental
Health and the Centers for Disease Control for his research in the areas of
therapy and assessment of disorders. Most recently his efforts have been directed
at using cognitive therapy to reduce suicide attempts and ameliorate schizophrenia.
Beck joined Penn’s Department of Psychiatry in 1954, with an undergraduate
degree from Brown University and a medical degree from Yale University. He currently
heads the Psychopathology Research Unit in Penn’s Department of Psychiatry.
He has been a member of the editorial boards of several academic journals and
has written over 450 articles. He is also the author or co-author of 17 books.
Beck has also received awards from the American Psychological Association, the
American Psychiatric Association, and the 2001 Heinz Award for the Human Condition.
Beck is the founder and president of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy
and Research, which opened in 1994. It provides therapy for patients, as well
as research opportunities, and training at all levels, for cognitive therapists.
The Institute of Medicine has awarded the Sarnat Prize since 1992 to individuals,
groups, or organizations that have demonstrated outstanding achievement in improving
mental health. The prize recognizes achievements in basic science, clinical
application, and public policy that lead to progress in the understanding, etiology,
prevention, treatment or cure of mental disorders, or to the promotion of mental
health. As defined by the nominating criteria, the field of mental health encompasses
neuroscience, psychology, social work, public health, nursing, psychiatry, and
advocacy. The award is supported by an endowment created by Rhoda and Bernard
Sarnat of Los Angeles, and speaks to their concern about the destructive effects
of mental illness.
Charles Grawemeyer was an industrialist, entrepreneur and University of Louisville
graduate, who chose to recognize powerful ideas or creative works in the sciences,
arts and humanities. This has been continued by the Grawemeyer Foundation at
the University of Louisville, which annually awards $200,000 each for works
in music composition, education, ideas improving world order, psychology, and
religion.
# # #
PENN Medicine is a $2.2 billion enterprise dedicated
to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and high-quality
patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school) and
the University of Pennsylvania Health System (created in 1993 as the nation’s
first integrated academic health system).
Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH
research funds; and ranked #4 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s
most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400
fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide
for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists
and leaders of academic medicine.
Penn Health System consists of four hospitals (including its flagship Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania, consistently rated one of the nation’s
“Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report), a faculty
practice plan, a primary-care provider network, three multispecialty satellite
facilities, and home health care and hospice.
Release available online at http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jan04/beck.htm