Thomas Beck

Thomas George Gordon Beck (2 August 1900 – 6 January 1948) was a New Zealand civil engineer who had a leading role in public works engineering projects in New Zealand. Early life Beck was born in Palmerston, Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. He attended primary school at High Street Normal School, Dunedin, and secondary school at the Normal District High School and Otago Boy's High School in Dunedin. Beck passed his university matriculation examinations in 1919. He gained early work experience with the Public Works Department (PWD) as a cadet, and then undertook tertiary studies at the University of Canterbury (known at that time as Canterbury College). Career After completing his tertiary studies, Beck took up a role in the Dunedin District office of the PWD. In December 1928, on behalf of the PWD, he took part in an inspection of the Graves-Talbot track, from the head of Lake Wakatipu to Milford Sound, by way of the Hollyford Valley. The purpose of the trip was to ascertain the repairs to the track that would be needed to enable the route to be safely used by tourists. In 1931, Beck was awarded a Commonwealth Fund fellowship, for eighteen months' study in the United States. He worked for most of this period with the United States Bureau of Reclamation on public works engineering for water resource management projects. He returned to New Zealand in mid 1933. He was then engaged in preliminary surveys and investigation of irrigation projects. By 1936, he was Resident Engineer for the Public Works Department in Temuka.