Biography

Kenneth W. Freeman assumed the position of interim president of Boston University on August 1, 2023. He is also dean emeritus and professor of the practice in the Questrom School of Business. Following Robert A. Brown’s announcement of his decision to step down from the presidency of the University, the Board of Trustees asked Ken Freeman to serve as interim president based on his distinguished prior service at Boston University and in industry. He served as interim president until June 30, 2024, after which time Dr. Melissa L. Gilliam assumed the presidency of Boston University.

President Freeman joined Boston University in 2010 as Allen Questrom Professor and dean of the Questrom School of Business and served in that role for eight years. As dean, he oversaw the transformation of Questrom’s undergraduate and MBA curricula, focusing on ethics, global citizenship, and sectors dramatically impacting the world economy: health and life sciences, digital technology, sustainability, and social enterprise. In 2014, he initiated the first-ever comprehensive global conversation between academia and industry about the future of business education and later coauthored Reimagining Business Education: Insights and Actions from the Business Education Jam (Emerald Publishing, 2016).

Following his service as dean, President Freeman developed and taught MBA courses in crisis leadership and managing corporate turnarounds. He served as interim vice president for human resources at BU from April 2020 to August 2021 and was appointed interim vice president and associate provost for online programs at-scale in December 2021. In this capacity, President Freeman led BU’s early efforts to establish a new online program unit, BU Virtual—a key pillar of the University’s 2030 Strategic Plan—that supports the development and delivery of online graduate education in collaboration with the schools and colleges. He led the successful national search for a permanent vice president and associate provost for BU Virtual and subsequently created and led an executive leadership development program for selected faculty and staff from across the University.

Prior to joining BU, President Freeman served in senior executive roles at Corning Incorporated, Quest Diagnostics, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. In 2010 and 2013, he was recognized in Harvard Business Review as one of the 100 best-performing CEOs in the world.

President Freeman earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School in 1976 and a BSBA from Bucknell University in 1972. He was a trustee of Bucknell University for 18 years, serving as chair of the board from 2009 to 2018.