A closer look at Becker’s special collection

In one way or another, nearly everyone at Washington University School of Medicine has heard of Bernard Becker, MD.

Many use the beautiful Bernard Becker Medical Library or consult rare eye books there from the well-known Becker collection. In the Department of Ophthalmology, which Becker chaired for more than 35 years, faculty members know well his landmark research on glaucoma. One member, David C. Beebe, PhD, is the Janet and Bernard Becker Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. But Becker is much more than a portrait in the library.

Becker

At 91, Becker is still a vital force in the lives of his former colleagues and residents, some 18 of whom went on to head ophthalmology departments of their own. Though wheelchair-bound from hip and vertebrae fractures, he is still highly alert and active on the computer, reading journals and sending articles to colleagues around the world.

Read more about Becker and view a slideshow of some of his rare books at http://outlook.wustl.edu/2011/dec/becker.