Dominican’s Renaissance Man

According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, a Renaissance man is a highly cultivated person who is skilled and well versed in many fields of knowledge or work, such as the arts and sciences. According to the Dominican University “definition” of Renaissance man, it is Dan Beach, PhD.

Beach is a man of many worlds. A professor of psychology at Dominican since 1975 and the department chair for the past 15 years, he is as equally renowned for his many personal pursuits and passions as he is for his significant professional accomplishments and achievements. Depending on whom you talk to, Beach is known for his world travels, which have taken him to every continent on the globe; as a “media personality” for his expert insight and reflections shared on television, radio and print both in the U.S. and internationally via the BBC; as a philanthropist and sponsor of the Jared-Beach Summer Research Scholarship awarded each year to a Dominican undergraduate; as an experienced clinical psychologist whose numerous professional accomplishments include serving as president of the Illinois Psychological Association and as a fellow of the American Council on Education; as a skilled woodworker, the artist who created the more than 40 crosses found in classrooms and meeting rooms around campus; and as a person of musical talents, who sang a leading role in the Dominican University production of the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, and who has performed original piano pieces in university talent shows. Plus, he speaks fluent Italian.

Beach’s passion for travel is on display when you enter his office in Parmer Hall, with photos, artifacts and memorabilia adorning the walls and shelf space. “I would love to have more overseas experiences and I encourage all my students to take advantage of any opportunity they have to study and travel in other countries. You learn things you could never get in a classroom,” he says.

“They get a fuller sense of the world and their place in it,” he continues. “So much of the learning is emotional learning, and study abroad offers a tremendous opportunity to be reflective about what you are doing.

“So much of the learning is emotional learning, and study abroad offers a tremendous opportunity...”

“I also believe it creates an emotional attachment to the university, so it helps make our students better alumnae/i of the institution. I would love to have it built into our curriculum.”

While many of Beach’s travels are for enjoyment, he also has led a number of study abroad and service learning trips for both high school and college students. In recent years, he has traveled to El Salvador, Africa, Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, Tasmania, Europe and the Caribbean. In May 2012, he will co-direct a two-week study abroad trip to China.

Beach’s expertise as a clinical psychologist has earned him renown within his profession, as well as with the general public. In 2010 when 33 miners were trapped in an underground mine in Chile, Beach became a go-to source for several Chicago media outlets as well as the BBC, commenting on the psychological effects and concerns that the men would confront. His experience over the 69 days until their rescue led to additional media interviews in the months that followed, addressing a range of popular psychological issues including flash mobs and post-traumatic stress.

“Psychology is the largest of the liberal arts majors here and students often come to it with a preconceived notion of what it is all about,” Beach says. And, because so much learning and understanding are acquired through research, Beach and his wife, Cynthia Jared – an attorney and partner in the law firm of Reed Smith LLP – established the Jared-Beach Summer Research Scholarship at Dominican. The grant is awarded to support the summer research efforts of a student in the psychology program.

“We are committed to giving students opportunities for higher education, and because many students need to work during the summer months, they aren’t able to devote the time required to conduct research,” he says. The grant enables students to further their education by devoting the time and energy to research without the competing financial pressures.

“We both were the first in our families to go to college and benefited greatly from the generosity of others, so we see this both as a way to give back and also to serve as role models for other donors,” he says.

On campus – and in life – Beach is a standout role model. When he began his career with Dominican, he was the university’s first director of special education in the years preceding the opening of the School of Education (SOE). His daughters, Caroline (a current student in Dominican’s Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Studies Program) and Cathleen, an undergraduate at Dominican, “grew up on campus” watching and learning from their father, as he worked toward getting the program certified by the State of Illinois and transitioned into SOE. As chair of the psychology department, Beach is intent on creating a premier undergraduate psychology program with a cadre of accomplished faculty.

As a member of the Board of Trustees during the construction of Parmer Hall, Beach and his fellow members addressed many of issues related to sustainability and sought opportunities to incorporate green elements and recycled content. An accomplished woodworker, Beach constructed more than 40 crosses from the trees that were removed during the construction. Those crosses now hang in classrooms and meeting spaces throughout campus.

“One of the things I love about woodworking is that it provides immediate results – I know right away if I’ve done it right or wrong,” Beach says. “It’s a nice balance because when you teach, you don’t get immediate results. Teaching is like parenting that way.”

Now in his 37th year teaching, Beach can take pride in the legacy of students he has “parented.”