Chuck Beck (BS ’62) never saw himself as creative, but an appreciation for the arts fostered by his wife, Judy, led him to discover a rising Ohio University theater group.
“I’m a math guy. I’m a numbers guy. I was in the investment business,” Beck said. “Museums, theater, and art are things I’ve come to appreciate so much more through marriage. They have given us a fuller and more wonderful life.”
In 2017, the Becks created an endowment to support Tantrum Theater. A partnership between the City of Dublin, Dublin Arts Council, and OHIO’s College of Fine Arts, Tantrum performs in Dublin, Ohio’s, Abbey Theatre and puts theater students to work alongside industry professionals.
“When I heard about the Tantrum Theater getting started, it sounded like a wonderful idea and a wonderful opportunity for the University,” Beck said. “They have big plans and big dreams.”
Theater and philanthropy aren’t new passions for Beck, who spent 15 years in an amateur theater troupe in New York City performing Gilbert and Sullivan operettas for charity. “It was the first time I had the chance to come face-to-face with this idea of a big group of people pulling together and putting on a show,” he said. “It was for charity, and I really hadn’t done something like that before. It just spoke to me.”
Now retired, Beck and his wife enjoy traveling. Returning to OHIO allows Beck to appreciate his alma mater’s accomplishments. “We’re fortunate to be able to support something, and we’re in that time of our life where we want to give back to things that we really care about,” he said. “Ohio University is one of them.”
