Dr. Alan Edward Beck, Professor Emeritus of Geophysics at Western University, passed away peacefully on December 1st, 2020 at his home in London, Ontario.

Alan was born January 27th 1928 in London, England. He met Julia Langley, the love of his life, at Australia National University where he did his PhD. They married in Sydney, Australia in 1955, and raised three children, starting in England then moving to Canada with trips back to Australia. He and Julia shared a love of music, good food and wine, rocks and nature, travel and reaching out to others. He proudly helped Julia with her devotion to preserving London’s heritage buildings. He had a positive outlook on life, a wonderful dry wit and both kind and stubborn streaks which shone through to the end.

Alan was Head of the Department of Geophysics (now Earth Sciences) at Western from 1963 to his retirement in 1993; faculty, staff and students were frequent guests at Alan and Julia’s homes. His lifelong scientific interest in heat flow, the thermal state of the Earth, led to invitations to speak around the world; more than professional, it flowed into his passion for measuring and recording temperatures and other data in his personal life. He was the 1993 winner of the J. Tuzo Wilson Medal, as well as the author of a text ‘Physical Principles of Exploration Methods’ and numerous other publications.

Alan was predeceased by Julia in 2012, as well as his brothers John and Ronald. He is lovingly remembered by his children Helen (Michael) of Ottawa, James (Aija) of London and Graham (Maria) of Perth, brother Harold (in England) and sister Mary (in Victoria). Dear grandfather of Ian (Chelsea), Ross and David, Emmanuel and Hannah (Casey), and great-grandfather of Harper, Clara, Evelyn and Finley.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, on Wednesday December 9th, 2020, there will be a drive-by visitation from 3-4 pm at 39 Carfrae Street; we suggest driving east from Ridout to Richmond Street. Only immediate family will attend the interment at Mount Pleasant Cemetery (cremation has already taken place).

In lieu of flowers, donations could be sent to Western University designated for the Julia and Alan Beck Scholarship Fund for geophysics or a to charity of your choice.