Carl Freeman Memorial Symposium draws colleagues and mentees from faraway places
The Department of Biological Sciences celebrated the career and legacy of former faculty member Dr. Dwight Carl Freeman with a memorial symposium on Sept. 27, 2024. A look back on Carl’s research career, collaborations and impact was provided by symposium lectures from former mentees, collaborators and two long-time colleagues. To open the event, speakers and guests were welcomed for an informal lunch reception in the Natural History Museum of Biological Sciences, which was well attended.
After a toast, nourishment and a lot of lively conversation, the attendees relocated to the Bernath Auditorium of the Undergraduate Library where Dr. John Graham (Reid professor of Biology Emeritus at the Department of Biology, Berry College, Georgia) took the stage to look back on, "35 Years Together with Carl Freeman, Exploring Hybrid Zones, Fluctuating Asymmetry, Community Ecology and Leaf Shape in Russia, Ukraine, Utah and Georgia."
This awe-inspiring review of Carl Freeman’s field research endeavors and their geographic breadth also alluded to Bill Moore, who was in the audience and had served as postdoctoral mentor of Graham’s at Wayne State from 1988 to 1989 and to Dr. Han Wang, a former Ph.D. student of Carl Freeman (1991-1996), who is now a professor at Soochow University, Suzhou, China and had made the long journey from this institution to join the symposium.
Next, former undergraduate and graduate WSU biology student Jeff Duda, now a Research Ecologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle, Washington, delivered a lively reminiscence in his talk, "Traveling an Ecological Road From Tortoises to Dam Removal: Carl Freeman and the Value of a Great Mentor." Duda highlighted Carl Freeman’s unrelinquished curiosity and enthusiasm for science, stressing how Freeman’s mentorship and love of data analysis could be used by his students, even for subjects that were outside of his expertise.
As the last of the Three Musketeers, USDA Forest Service Emeritus Scientist Durant McArthur, delivered a moving, "Tribute to my Friend and Colleague, D. Carl Freeman." One of many arresting moments in this talk reminded the audience about Carl Freeman’s meteoric ascent to the scientific scene, publishing a paper in the highly influential Proceedings of the National Academy of Science as an undergraduate student, followed by a publication in the prestigious journal Science from his graduate studies.
The three main presentations were interspersed by personal accounts of Carl Freeman’s impact on evolutionary biology by Biological Sciences Emeritus Professor and close former colleague Bill Moore, who had been pivotal for the hiring of Carl Freeman to Wayne State and by former inaugural Dean of the WSU Irvin D. Read Honors College Jerry Herron, who provided a heartfelt account of Carl Freeman’s vision and work for education on campus and beyond.
What was clear from this event was the large impact that Carl Freeman made in the lives of his students, colleagues and the Wayne State University community.