Secretary appoints Freeland as Higher Education Commissioner

BOSTON – Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville today officially selected Dr. Richard Freeland as Commissioner of Higher Education. The decision comes shortly after the Board of Higher Education voted unanimously to recommend Dr. Freeland as their candidate for commissioner.

“In these challenging times, the Governor, the Board and I were seeking a transformational leader for our system of public higher education and that is who we have found in Richard Freeland,” said Secretary Reville. “Richard is the ideal Commissioner for this moment in the system’s history. We know from current enrollment numbers that more families are choosing public higher education for their children so it is critical that we have strong leadership to guide our work in educating all students and preparing them for the jobs of the 21^st century.”

Dr. Freeland has spent his entire academic career in higher education and said he was thankful for the honor and anxious to begin working in his new role.

“Massachusetts needs a first class system of colleges and universities to provide opportunities for our citizens and to nurture the talent that will keep our economy competitive,” said Dr. Freeland. “I will dedicate myself above all to working with my colleagues throughout public higher education, as well as in the legislature and the executive branch, to build the excellence in our public campuses and look forward to working collaboratively with colleagues at our private colleges and universities. Working together, we can build a successful system that will fully educate our residents and attract talent to the state.”

Dr. Freeland is President Emeritus and University Professor at Northeastern University and the Mosakowski Professor of Higher Education at Clark University. He was President of Northeastern from 1996 to 2006. Under his leadership, the college was transformed into a nationally selective residential university, and its ranking on the US News list of “Best National Universities” rose from 162 to 98, a repositioning that the Boston Business Journal called “one of the most dramatic since US News began ranking in 1983.”

Dr. Freeland also worked at the University of Massachusetts from 1970 to 1992. His duties included the development and opening of the campus in Boston, where he then served as Assistant to the Chancellor, Director of Educational Planning, founding Dean of the College of Professional Studies, and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Between 1992 and 1996, he was Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the City University of New York, the country’s largest urban system of public higher education.

As part of the Governor’s reorganization of education in the Commonwealth, which was signed into law over the summer, the Education Secretary has the authority to appoint Commissioners at the three education departments – Early Education and Care, Elementary and Secondary Education, and Higher Education. This is Secretary Reville’s first appointment. He is expected to appointment the Commissioner of Early Education and Care in the coming weeks.

The appointment of Dr. Freeland comes just weeks after Governor Patrick appointed Dr. Charles Desmond as the Chair of the Board of Higher Education.

Dr. Freeland is expected to assume his duties sometime in January.