In Memory of Houghton “Buck” Freeman

The CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies lost its benefactor and guiding spirit, Houghton "Buck" Freeman in late 2010.  Buck was a generous and thoughtful person who truly cared about America's relationships across the Pacific.  The Freeman Chair was established to advance the study of China and to promote understanding between the United States and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

I have been and am honored to follow in the footsteps of my predecessors Bates Gill and Gerrit Gong as the Freeman Chair. Though I am quick to remind friends and colleagues that the fact my last name is also Freeman is coincidence, I learned shortly after joining CSIS through Graeme Freeman, Buck's son, that we shared a common ancestor in the mid-17th century.  Not quite nepotism, but enough of a connection to make me proud as a fellow Freeman to be carrying on the important mission of promoting better relations between Asia and the United States.  While saddened by Buck's passing, all of us at the Freeman Chair and CSIS can celebrate the remarkable legacy he has left behind.

Charles W. Freeman III
CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, 2007-present

I join with my predecessor and successor in the Freeman Chair in expressing my profound sadness in learning of the passing of Buck Freeman, and in sending my deepest condolences to Doreen, Graeme, and all of his family.  I was privileged to get to know Buck through his support for the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies which I helped establish at the Brookings Institution, and when I had the honor of holding the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS.  Whenever I met with him--whether in Stowe, in Washington, or in Honolulu--he was always a lively and wise interlocutor, deeply engaged in an array of projects across East Asia, and so impressive for his passionate dedication to helping Americans better understand China and Asia. His generosity and that of his family have benefitted tens of thousands of persons on both sides of the Pacific and brought Asia and America closer together.  His legacy lives on in the Freeman Chair, and in all the lives he has touched around the Asia-Pacific.

Bates Gill, Ph.D.
CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, 2001-2007
 

With Deep Condolences and in Recognition

With heartfelt condolences to Doreen, Graeme, and the Freeman family on the passing of our friend and mentor “Buck” Freeman, I express gratitude for the occasion to reflect on a four-generation Freeman family commitment to improving U.S.-Asia understanding.   I met Mansfield Freeman on a Vermont afternoon which sparkled almost as much as his clear, penetrating eyes.  His life interest in Chinese classics and Sino-Western business was instantly apparent as he began commenting on the Chinese characters in my name.  Buck, Doreen, and Graeme came to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) concerned that mutual misperceptions were poisoning Sino-U.S. relations.  Not one simply to wring his hands in lament, Buck began proposing ways to improve Sino-U.S. understanding.  One effort was to establish a CSIS China chair which Buck, modestly, wanted to carry the family, not his, name.  As the inaugural chair holder, I marveled at the trust a family shows when they lend their name and resources to create a major ongoing effort to reach out to government officials, scholars, analysts, school students, and many others through wide-ranging briefings, publications, scholarly exchanges, etc.   It is said those who do the most good are those least concerned about taking credit.  We warmly salute Buck Freeman, part of a multi-generation family committed to improving Sino-U.S. understanding, as such an individual. 

Gerrit W. Gong, Ph.D.
CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, 1995-2001