Aaron Temkin Beck (born July 18, 1921) is an American psychiatrist and a professor emeritus at the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Beck is known as the father of Cognitive Therapy and inventor of the widely used Beck Scales, including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Youth Inventories.http://www.beckinstitute.org/InfoID/31/RedirectPath/Add1/FolderID/198/SessionID/{C9FC0D43-19E5-4A44-9AF7-832A58C4BA5A}/InfoGroup/Main/InfoType/Article/PageVars/Library/InfoManage/Zoom.htm "Beck Scales for Adults and Children" Beck Institute for Cognitive Threapy and Research. Retrieved on 2007-1-11 He is the President of the http://www.beckinstitute.org/FolderID/196/SessionID/{C9FC0D43-19E5-4A44-9AF7-832A58C4BA5A}/PageVars/Library/InfoManage/Guide.htm Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and the Honorary President of the http://www.academyofct.org Academy of Cognitive Therapy, which certifies qualifed Cognitive Therapists.