George Malcolm Beal was born in 1899 in Topeka, Kansas. He attended Topeka High School from 1914 to 1918 and served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1920.

After his Navy service, Beal returned to school, attending the University of Kansas to study architecture. He graduated in 1923 with a B.S. in architecture and another B.S. in architectural engineering. He continued his studies at the University of Kansas in 1925 and subsequently was hired by the University as an assistant professor of architecture. In 1926, he married Helen R. Rutledge and moved to Paris, France, to complete a certificate in architecture at the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts.

In 1928, Beal returned to the University of Kansas as an associate professor in architecture. In the late 1920s, Beal helped the school of architecture change from a Beaux-Arts style into a modern school of architecture.

Beal was a friend of Frank Lloyd Wright until Wright's death in 1954. Beal was an early Taliesin Fellow, beginning in 1934, and was appointed to full professor in 1936. In 1938, he developed the inside-outside heliodon which amplified natural light inside of buildings.

Beal served in the United States Navy during World War II. He returned to chair the Department of Architecture at the University of Kansas in 1945. He served as chair until 1962, when he was promoted to director of the University's architectural service.

George M. Beal retired from the University in 1970. He died on March 8, 1988 in Topeka, Kansas.