Prof. Emeritus Robert A. Beck ’42, who served as dean the School of Hotel Administration from 1961 to 1981 and pioneered a school-wide emphasis on international research, died on July 31 in Redding, Conn. Beck was 91.As dean of the hotel school, Beck distinguished himself from his predecessors by opting to hire formally trained scholars instead of people working in the hotel industry. In 1973, he founded the Master of Professional Studies program, which later became the Master of Management in Hospitality, and launched the hotel school’s executive education program.According to both current and former faculty, Beck had a profound impact on those he came into contact with during his time as dean.“He had personally — and he instilled in the school — a high level of expectation of excellence,” said Prof. Emeritus Neal Geller ’64, hotel administration, who was named the first Robert A. Beck Professor of Hospitality Financial Management. “It made me really proud to be the first Robert A. Beck professor.”Beck’s influence extended to the hotel school’s curriculum of which he expanded the scope to give students both an interdisciplinary and international research focus. He also integrated technology into the curriculum by incorporating classes on computing and by hiring faculty members with engineering backgrounds.“He took a technical and managerial approach to hotel management.