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Emeritus in philosophy at Georgetown University, where he spent his academic career, Professor Beauchamp was especially well-known for his work in bioethics and on Hume. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Beauchamp or for those who would like to comment on the significance of his work.
A major contributor to the practice of biomedical research in the US. Co-author of the Belmont Report, the foundational document for the regulation of human subjects research in the US. His text on biomedical ethics, co-authored with James Childress, is a fine book that went through several editions.
This was just shared from Georgetown.
It is with great sadness that the Kennedy Institute of Ethics shares the news that Tom L. Beauchamp III, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and retired Senior Research Scholar of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown died suddenly on February 19, 2025.
Tom first joined the faculty in Philosophy in 1970, having received his BA from Southern Methodist University and his PhD from Johns Hopkins. He became one of the first research scholars of the newly formed Kennedy Institute of Ethics in 1974, an appointment that followed four years of weekly conversations about ethics and medicine over lunch at the Tombs with the Institute’s first Director, André Hellegers, MD. In 1975 he joined the staff of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, where he became the chief drafter of the famous Belmont Report, which has guided the ethics and regulation of human subjects research since its publication in 1978. Along with his colleague at the Kennedy Institute, James Childress, he co-authored the renowned textbook, Principles of Biomedical Ethics, which has been translated into multiple languages and underwent multiple revisions with the 8th edition published in 2019. Distilling the essence of medical ethics into principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice, it has been the most influential work in medical ethics in the world. Among his other books are A History and Theory of Informed Consent, co-authored with his wife, Ruth Faden, and Hume and the Problem of Causation, co-authored with Alex Rosenberg.
Tom was a remarkable teacher and a towering intellect. His students have become leaders in bioethics all over the world. He taught regularly in The Kennedy Institute’s Intensive Bioethics Course, which has introduced thousands to the field of bioethics since the program first began in 1974. He taught countless undergraduate and graduate students courses in Hume, ethical theory, and bioethics. He directed dozens of dissertations. He was a tireless yet unobtrusive mentor to countless junior colleagues as he recruited them to Georgetown, guided them through the promotion process, and offered them a model of how to be a person for others as an academic.
He was a generous interlocutor with his colleagues in the Department of Philosophy and the Kennedy Institute, known for his quick mind and wry humor. He retired in 2016.
He received numerous awards over the course of his career, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, the Henry Beecher Award of the Hastings Center, and Georgetown’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. He delivered Georgetown’s Life of Learning Address in 2016.
Dan Sulmasy, Director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, remarked, “It is not an exaggeration to say that, through his work in bioethics, he has had more impact on medical practice than most physician scientists. Clinicians around the world not only learn but also put into practice the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice that Tom first articulated 50 years ago. Georgetown and the world have lost a great scholar and teacher.”
Funeral services were held on Martha’s Vineyard on February 24. A Memorial Service in the Washington DC area is planned for the Spring. The family has requested that donations in Tom's name be made to: CHAT (Communication Health, Advocacy & Therapy), 310 South Main Street, Suite D, Lombard, IL 6014.
I will add that I was one of the junior colleagues that Tom mentored. He looked out for all of his junior colleagues, believed in them, taught them how to navigate the department and the university, and then handed off what he helped build at Georgetown to our care.
I morn the death of my friend Tom Beauchamp. he was my greatest friend and support in graduate school, and a spur to my work on causation and on David Hume in the following 20 years. No one was a greater example of how to follow Hume’s maxim, “be a philosopher, but amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.” His work in bioethics has had a greater impact on humanity than that of any other philosopher I know or for that matter any human being. With all, it was a great Fun to spend time with him.
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