Michael Freeman (BGS ’80/MA ’83) says he learned many things during his years studying education at The University of Iowa, but perhaps the most important was the notion that the best educators continue to learn.
Now vice president and dean at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Freeman has focused his professional interests on the psycho-social development of black students at predominantly white campuses. He is particularly interested in identifying what makes students of color succeed in their post-secondary endeavors. To discover the answer, Freeman has studied and improved students’ first-year experience.

His own freshman experience at Iowa entailed a certain degree of culture shock. “For a young man coming from Chicago in 1976,” he says, “Iowa City was a very different place—full of people who were charming and disarming. It’s a true university town. You can learn just from listening to people on the street.”

Of course, Freeman also learned in the classroom. His mentors included Herb Exum, Colleen Jones, Phillip Jones (MA ‘67/PhD ‘75), Philip Hubbard, and Quincy Moore (PhD ‘83). Freeman says that these individuals not only provided him with the support, the tools, and inspiration to become an educator, but also “made me leave” the state.

“They actually encouraged me to take flight,” he says, “and to apply what I’d learned at Iowa elsewhere. That’s how I ended up at St. Mary’s.”

The small liberal arts school south of Washington, D.C., on Maryland’s west shore is renowned for its innovative programs and the quality of its students. As director of residence life and director of minority affairs, and in his current position as vice president and dean, Freeman has contributed substantially to the school’s excellent reputation. His impact is even more impressive considering that he spent six years away from campus earning his doctorate in education from the University of Maryland at College Park, interning with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and acting as senior academic advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

When Freeman was asked what his secret is to being a successful administrator, he replied that it’s no secret at all. “I try to hire good people and stay out of their way,” he said. “By staying out of their way, I mean getting staff members the resources they need to perform the best service for the students. It is remembering that students are why we work on a college campus.”

In serving as vice president and dean, Freeman finds no two days are alike. And because St. Mary’s is small, his decisions have a relatively immediate and identifiable impact. He notes that although The University of Iowa is a very large school, its College of Education also offered the benefits of a close-knit community.

“From Iowa, I honed my own sense of style,” Freeman says, “a commonsense approach to education, and an open-door management philosophy. The setting in Iowa City gave students like me the feeling of being in a relaxed space, but the faculty maintained high standards. Because of what I learned there, I have remained an educator.” – by Jean Florman