Karl Freed to receive 2019 Norman MacLean Faculty Award

Congratulations to Karl Freed, Henry J. Gale Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, who will receive the Norman MacLean Faculty Award in recognition of his contributions to teaching and student life this Alumni Weekend!  Freed joined the University of Chicago in 1968. He has received several major awards for his research contributions, including the American Chemistry Award in Pure Chemistry, the Marlow Medal of the Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Polymer Prize of the American Physical Society and his election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The diversity of Freed’s projects arises from his desire to carve aside some time for learning about new research areas, methods and systems. Freed’s curiosity-driven approach to research is exemplified by his theory of the miscibility of polymers (a problem of enormous industrial and technological importance). The multidisciplinary nature of some research has often made it desirable or imperative for jointly mentoring students by faculty from very different fields (and different cities). Some joint students have spent several months in the collaborator’s lab. Freed has mentored many students, postdocs and visiting researchers, welcoming them all with an open-door policy. Freed taught a wide variety of courses, including general chemistry, graduate courses on statistical or quantum mechanics and an occasional advanced course on a specialized topic. The challenging courses were focused on rigorous, critical thinking, softened by occasional humor. Adapted from announcement at https://news.uchicago.edu/story/profs-lauren-berlant-and-karl-freed-receive-norman-maclean-faculty-award