Aaron Beck M.D.
Aaron Temkin Beck is the father of Cognitive Therapy, having created and refined cognitive therapy over the course of his research and clinical career. He has published more than 550 scholarly articles and 18 books and has developed widely-used assessment scales. He has received many prestigious awards including the 2006 Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award for developing cognitive therapy, which fundamentally changed the way that psychopathology is viewed and its treatment is conducted. He has been listed as one of the "10 individuals who shaped the face of American Psychiatry" and one of the 5 most influential psychotherapists of all time.
Dr. Beck is an emeritus professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Psychopathology Research Unit (PRU), which is the parent organization of the Center for the Treatment and Prevention of Suicide. His current research focuses on cognitive therapy for suicide prevention, dissemination of cognitive therapy into community settings, and cognitive therapy for schizophrenia.