Who is Brian Beck?
Brian and wife Abbie at Yellowstone
Boo, a border-collie/pyrenees, has a devastatingly handsome smile and wants to be your friend.
Scout and Jem, sister and brother tabbies, are natives of Denton.
Hi! Meet Brian Beck
CONTACT:
· 940-557-5580
OVERVIEW:
I’m a university educator and scientist with a PhD in Biochemistry & Biophysics, a 30+ year career in computational/structural biology, high-performance computing, and cloud computing. I recently retired from UT-Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). I live in the Idiot’s Hill neighborhood of Denton with my wife Abbie (an archaelogist/paleoethnobotanist & Denton County Master Naturalist), a border-collie/pyrenees named Boo, and sibling tabbies, Jem & Scout. I have 22 year-old daughter, Ellie, at UT-Austin and a 19 year-old son, Ian, at UNT.
BACKGROUND:
I was born in Maine, but grew up mostly in Oklahoma and Texas, particularly the Clear Lake/Seabrook area southeast of Houston, near Johnson Space Center. I have also lived in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Washington, and Nevada.
I came to Denton in 2007 as faculty in the TWU Biology department, but shifted in 2015 to work at UT-Austin-TACC as TACC’s Dallas/Fort Worth regional liaison as well as providing research support for NSF/ACCESS’s Jetstream Cloud Computing platform. I recently retired from UT-Austin in January of 2024.
COMMUNITY SERVICE:
Denton City Council, District 2, May 2021 (2 terms - current)
Mayor Pro Tem (May 2022 - current)
Committee on the Environment (May 2021 - current, chair)
Development Code Review Committee (May 2021 - current, vice-chair 2021, chair 2023 - current )
Mobility Committee (Jun 2023 - current, vice-chair)
Denton Planning and Zoning Commission (1.5 years)
Denton Zoning Board of Adjustment (6 months)
Climate Cabinet Cohort (2023 - Current)
League of Women Voters (2021 - current)
LULAC #4366 member (2022 - current)
Rotary #5283, Denton Noon Rotary (2024 - current)
Serve Denton (2021 - current )
Shield Denton (2019 - on-going)
Wilson/Nette Shultz Elementary Advisory Board (1 year)
Wilson/Nette Shultz Elementary Science Fair Coordinator (2 years)
EDUCATION:
BS: Biochemistry & Biophysics: 1991 from Texas A&M University, College Station.
PhD: Biochemistry & Biophysics: 1997 from Washington State University, Pullman, WA.
Post-Doctoral Appointment: Chemistry Department & Institute for Molecular Design: 1998-2004 at the University of Houston.
Why I'm running:
I'm running to ensure we have open and RESPONSIVE government that follows scientific best practices so that we don't abandon the quality of life elements that are unique to our Arts, Academic, and Technology strengths while promoting healthy sustainable growth patterns. With the fallout from recent (and on-going) pandemic and winter-weather problems, we've seen the difference between leadership that's willing to step-up for their community during natural disasters and those that don't.