Deborah Freund of Claremont receives Distinguished Alumni Award from Arts & Sciences at Washington University

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Deborah A. Freund

ST. LOUIS, MO (04/12/2011)(readMedia)-- Deborah A. Freund, president of Claremont Graduate University, of Claremont, Calif. (91711) recently received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University's College of Arts & Sciences. Arts & Sciences recognized the achievements of Freund and four other alumni during the 14th Annual Arts & Sciences Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony, held March 24 at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis.

Gary S. Wihl, PhD, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences and the Hortense and Tobias Lewin Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, and the Arts & Sciences National Council, led by Chair Barbara Schaps Thomas (AB '76), hosted the awards dinner.

National Council members who are previous Distinguished Alumni Award recipients and a former dean's medalist introduced this year's awardees. During the ceremony, the five honorees shared personal stories about the impact of their educational experiences on their lives and accomplishments.

Four alumni received the Distinguished Alumni Award, which recognizes graduates who have exemplified the ideals embodied by an Arts & Sciences education and have brought honor to Washington University through their lives, work and service.

Wihl presented the Dean's Medal to Earle H. Harbison Jr., LLD (AB '48), chairman of Harbison Corp., a family financial holding company that invests in manufacturing.

The Dean's Medal is awarded to a person who has made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of the ideals of an Arts & Sciences education.

Distinguished Alumna: Deborah A. Freund, PhD (AB '73), introduced by Edward S. Macias, PhD, provost, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, 2009 Dean's Medalist

A classics major during her three college years, Freund mastered Greek and Latin. Freund went on to the University of Michigan for a master's in applied economics, a doctorate in economics and a master's of public health in medical care administration.

The career that followed encompasses path-setting health-care and health-economics research, pharmacoeconomics (a field she founded) and distinguished academic leadership.

While an undergraduate, she heard that then-Professor of Medicine Gerald Perkoff, MD, was developing what amounted to the nation's first university-based HMO and she asked to observe. Instead, Perkoff put her to work.

She learned computer programming and witnessed the initiative's planning and implementation - whereupon Walter Ballinger, MD, surgery chief and department head, requested her help with what became the Study of Surgical Services in the United States.

Since then, Freund's internationally recognized, strongly clinical research has produced reams of significant findings in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health insurance and economics and Medicaid.

The recipient of numerous awards, Freund has held academic executive positions at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and at Indiana, Rochester and Syracuse universities.

She became the first woman president of Claremont Graduate University in fall 2010.