The Honorable Phyllis W. Beck, a ground-breaking retired judge of the Superior Court, former Vice Dean at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and former Penn Nursing Board of Advisors member, died on March 3, 2025. She was 97.
“Judge Beck’s pioneering career on the bench and dedication to public service have left an enduring impact on the legal community, both locally in Philadelphia and beyond,” said Sophia Z. Lee, Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law. “She bravely opened the door for more women to pursue the legal profession and remained committed to its integrity throughout her career. We are proud and honored that her legacy includes Penn Carey Law and mourn this tremendous loss to our community.”
In 1981, Judge Beck became the first woman appointed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, where she served until her retirement in 2006. In the late 1980s, then-Governor Bob Casey appointed Judge Beck as part of a 23-member committee that identified ways to modernize Pennsylvania’s Court System.
Vice Dean Beck, 1979 Law Yearbook
Prior to her appointment on the Superior Court, Judge Beck served as Vice Dean and professor at the Law School for five years. She also served on the Penn Nursing Board of Advisors from 1985 through 2014 and previously held positions as a faculty member at Temple University Beasley School of Law and Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.
“Judge Beck was a treasured member of the Philadelphia legal community. She was a distinguished jurist, a trailblazer, a teacher, a mentor, and a philanthropist,” said Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Katayun I. Jaffari in a statement from the Philadelphia Bar Association. “She was dedicated to the people of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, advocating for judicial independence and reforms to create a more equitable justice system. Judge Beck was also a staunch supporter of legal education, providing wise counsel and mentorship to the many law students with which she interacted, and finding ways to improve and enhance legal education in Philadelphia.”
Vice Dean Beck, 1981 Law Yearbook
Born on October 7, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York and raised in the Bronx, Judge Beck graduated from Hunter College High School in 1945 and Pembroke College for Women at Brown University in 1949. Before pursuing law, she worked as a researcher for TIME magazine and as a reporter for the Berkshire Eagle in Massachusetts.
Judge Beck later attended Temple University Beasley School of Law’s evening division, graduating first in her class in 1967.
After retiring from the bench, she continued a career in public service as general counsel of the Barnes Foundation, advisory board chair of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, mediator for the Superior Court and in asbestos cases for the First Judicial District, and Vice-Chair of the Ethics Board of the City of Philadelphia.
Since 1993, Judge Beck also served as the Chair of the Independence Foundation, a philanthropic organization investing in people and programs that enrich the life experiences of the residents of the Philadelphia area. Through the support of the Independence Foundation, Judge Beck established the Beck Chair in Law at Temple, which brings notable leaders or outstanding scholars in law or a related field to the faculty.
She was the 1997 recipient of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Brennan Distinguished Jurist Award—which recognizes a jurist who adheres to the highest ideals of judicial service—and the 2005 recipient of the Justice Sandra Day O’ Connor Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Women in the Profession Committee. The O’Connor Award recognizes an outstanding woman attorney who exemplifies the qualities that Justice O’Connor has demonstrated in her life and work.
“In her acceptance speech for the Bar Association’s O’Connor Award in 2005, Judge Beck described herself and fellow women who became lawyers in the 1950s and 1960s as a ‘brave band of sisters who marched into a profession that was not ready for us,’” Jaffari said.
Jaffari went on to note how upon graduating first in her law school class in 1967, Judge Beck was initially denied approval to take the bar exam by the Delaware County ethics committee who questioned her moral fit as an attorney if she was “neglecting her responsibilities to her household and children.”
“Judge Beck persisted, and a second committee gave her the approval she needed to take and pass the bar,” he said. “Her refusal to accept limits paved the way for other women to follow in her footsteps and build successful legal careers here in Philadelphia. We are grateful to Judge Beck for her courage, guidance and leadership. She will be greatly missed.”
Original source can be found here.