Robert Nason Beck

Robert Nason Beck (March 26, 1928, in San Angelo, Texas – August 6, 2008, in Chicago, Illinois) was an American scientist and a pioneer in the field of nuclear medicine.

Part of a University of Chicago team, he was the first to propose, in 1961, the use of the radioisotope technetium-99m to detect disease using Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, a technique that is used an estimated 20 million times a year throughout the world.

Beck was appointed chief scientist and director of Argonne Cancer Research Hospital (ACRH) in 1957.

In 1986, he founded and directed the Center for Imaging Science shared between the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory.

[2] During his life, Beck published nearly 250 scientific papers and served on several task forces, in the field, especially for the Society of Nuclear Medicine and the International Atomic Energy Agency.