Kenneth W. Freeman

Kenneth W. Freeman
Kenneth W. Freeman
President of; Boston University
	Interim
	In office; August 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024
Preceded by	Robert A. Brown
Succeeded by	Melissa L. Gilliam
Personal details
Alma mater	Bucknell University (BA); Harvard Business School (MBA)

Kenneth W. Freeman is an American former business executive and academic dean. He was previously the CEO of Quest Diagnostics and Masonite International. From August 2023 to July 2024, he served as the interim president of Boston University.^[1]

Career

Business

A graduate of Bucknell University and the Harvard Business School, Freeman began his career with Corning Glass Works in 1972. He held a number of accounting, control, and finance positions with the company.^[2] He worked his way up to the position of corporate controller and in 1985, was given the additional title of vice president.^[3] Two years later he was appointed senior vice president.^[4] In 1990 he was appointed chief executive officer of Corning Asahi Video.^[5] In 1993 he was named Corning's diversity officer in charge of minority hiring and other personnel issues.^[6]

In 1995, Freeman was named president and chief executive officer of Corning Clinical Labs.^[2] On December 31, 1996, Corning Clinical Labs was spun-off into an independent company known as Quest Diagnostics.^[7] He remained with the company until 2004, when he was succeeded by Surya Mohapatra.^[8]

In 2005, He joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts as a managing director.^[9] He also served on the firm's portfolio management committee, which oversees the company's holdings.^[10] He was appointed chairman and CEO of Masonite International after the company was acquired by KKR. In 2006 he became executive chairman of Accellent Inc.^[11]

Academia

In 2010, Freeman became the Allen Questrom professor and dean of Boston University's School of Management.^[10] He later ended his service as dean, but remained with BU as dean emeritus and professor of the practice at the Questrom School of Business.

From April 2020 to August 2021, Freeman serves as Boston University's interim vice president for human resources, and from 2021 to 2022 he was the interim vice president and associate provost for online programs. On August 1, 2023, he became the interim president of Boston University, following the retirement of president Robert Brown.^[1] Later that year, it was announced that Melissa Gilliam would succeed him as president in July 2024.^[12]

Freeman was a member of the Bucknell University board of trustees for 18 years and served as chair from 2009 to 2018.^[1] In 2018, he donated $25 million to Bucknell's new College of Management, which was renamed the Kenneth W. Freeman College of Management. It was the first time in the university's history that a college was named after a person.^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Meet Our President". Boston University Office of the President. Trustees of Boston University. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
^ ^a ^b Littleton, Kathryn C. (May 2, 1995). "Corning Clinical Labs names Freeman President and Chief Executive Officer". Business Wire.
^ "Mortgage & Realty Says Officials Resigned After Sale of Adviser". Wall Street Journal. July 3, 1985.
^ "Corning Glass Names Four As Senior Vice Presidents". Wall Street Journal. May 1, 1987.
^ Maglitta, Joseph (January 17, 1994). "Glass act". Computerworld.
^ "Corning Inc". Wall Street Journal. September 16, 1993.
^ "Corning to Spin Off 2 Subsidiaries to Shareholders". The New York Times. Reuters. November 28, 1996. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
^ "Who's News". Wall Street Journal. October 26, 2004.
^ Mathek, Justin (May 10, 2005). "Who's News". Wall Street Journal.
^ ^a ^b de la Merced, Michael (June 22, 2010). "A K.K.R. Executive Goes Back to School". The New York Times.
^ "Kenneth W. Freeman Named Executive Chairman of Accellent". Business Wire. December 21, 2006.
^ Most, Doug (6 October 2023). "Boston University Names Melissa L. Gilliam 11th President". Boston University School of Public Health. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
^ Nicolai, Kathryn (February 1, 2018). "Kenneth W. Freeman college of management named after $25 million donation". The Bucknellian. Retrieved 5 September 2023.