Kenneth W. Freeman is an American former business executive and academic

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

. He was previously the CEO of

Quest Diagnostics Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is an American clinical laboratory. A Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 company, Quest operates in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Brazil. Quest also maintains collaborative agreements with various hospitals ...

and

Masonite International Masonite International Corporation is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of interior and exterior doors for the new construction and repair, renovation and remodeling sectors of the residential and non-residential building construction mar ...

. From August 2023 to July 2024, he served as the interim president of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Career

Business

A graduate of

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal-arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts a ...

and the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, Freeman began his career with

Corning Glass Works Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company specializing in glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The company was name ...

in 1972. He held a number of accounting, control, and finance positions with the company. He worked his way up to the position of corporate controller and in 1985, was given the additional title of vice president. Two years later he was appointed senior vice president. In 1990 he was appointed chief executive officer of Corning Asahi Video. In 1993 he was named Corning's diversity officer in charge of minority hiring and other personnel issues. In 1995, Freeman was named president and chief executive officer of Corning Clinical Labs. On December 31, 1996, Corning Clinical Labs was spun-off into an independent company known as

. He remained with the company until 2004, when he was succeeded by Surya Mohapatra. In 2005, he joined

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...

as a managing director. He also served on the firm's portfolio management committee, which oversees the company's holdings. He was appointed chairman and CEO of

after the company was acquired by KKR. In 2006 he became executive chairman of Accellent Inc.

Academia

In 2010, Freeman became the

Allen Questrom Allen Irving Questrom (born April 13, 1941) is a retired American retailing executive and philanthropist. He has served as the CEO of Federated Department Stores (Macy's), Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, and JCPenney. He is also a Senior Advisor ...

professor and dean of Boston University's School of Management. 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 served 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 Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

. Later that year, it was announced that Melissa Gilliam would succeed him as president in July 2024. Freeman was a member of the Bucknell University board of trustees for 18 years and served as chair from 2009 to 2018. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Kenneth W. American chief executives Bucknell University alumni Boston University faculty Corning Inc. Harvard Business School alumni Kohlberg Kravis Roberts people Presidents of Boston University