University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

UB student artist Berten Bean

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Published: August 19, 2010

During the first half of the 20th century, college yearbooks included the work of student artists, and UB yearbooks were no exception. One of the more prolific student artists at UB was Berten C. Bean.

A native of Auburn, N.Y., Bean grew up in Buffalo and attended UB as an undergraduate. He received a medical degree from the university in 1941 and practiced medicine in the Buffalo area. He died in 2004.

During his years in medical school, Bean provided caricatures for the student yearbook the “Medentian.” Derived from a combination of the words “medical” and “dental,” “Medentian” originated in 1933 as the title of a monthly publication issued by students in the medical and dental schools. The name also was used for the student yearbook for the two schools from 1935 until 1975.

The illustration at right, from 1940, is one of Bean’s original drawings held by the University Archives. 

—John Edens, University Archives