In Memoriam: John M. Freeman, Lederer Professor Emeritus of Pediatric Epilepsy and Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics

To the Johns Hopkins Medicine community

Dear Colleagues,

With great sadness we report the loss of John M. Freeman, the Lederer Professor Emeritus of Pediatric Epilepsy and Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, who died Friday, Jan. 3, of cardiovascular disease. He was 80. Services will be held Monday, Jan. 6, at 2 p.m., at Sol Levinson and Bros. Funeral Home, 8900 Reisterstown Rd. at Mt. Wilson Lane, Pikesville, Md.

John was an internationally renowned pediatric neurologist and medical ethicist whose iconoclastic questioning of established medical practices revolutionized the treatment of pediatric epilepsy and advanced the development of modern biomedical ethics. His forceful advocacy of two long-abandoned therapies—one requiring a strict, unconventional high-fat diet, the other involving surgery to remove half of the brain of children tormented by unremitting seizures—led to their revival and current acceptance as effective treatments.

John was the founding head of the Johns Hopkins Division of Pediatric Neurology and director of the Birth Defects Clinic, as well as director of what now is the John M. Freeman Pediatric Epilepsy Center.

John exemplified the very best attributes of a Hopkins professor. He mentored two generations of pediatric neurologists and pediatricians, many of whom are now leaders in their fields. His clinical acumen transcended conventional wisdom, and he pushed all around him to think about better ways to treat pediatric neurology patients.

An outspoken advocate of patient rights throughout his career, John wrote extensively on the ethical and medical issues surrounding the treatment of severely ill newborns with congenital defects. John showed special concern for maintaining the dignity of individual patients and striving to ensure that each had as independent, fulfilling and as close to normal life as possible. He was the founding chairman of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Ethics Committee and co-director of an undergraduate medical student course in bioethics. He was a member of the original faculty of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, and along with his family established the Freeman Family Fund in Clinical Bioethics to help support the salary of a faculty member to teach that subject. His respect and admiration for the team of people who made all medical therapy possible at Hopkins also led to a yearly staff award given to an outstanding member of the Children's Center staff—the Shirley Alford Award funded by John Freeman.

John was a 1954 honors graduate of Amherst College and a 1958 graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After completing his pediatrics internship and residency at Hopkins in 1961, he undertook a three-year fellowship in neurology and child neurology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. He returned to Hopkins in 1969 and rose through the academic ranks, becoming a full professor in pediatrics and neurology before being named the Lederer Professor of Pediatric Epilepsy in 1991. He became an emeritus professor in 2007.

John is survived by his wife of 57 years, Elaine Kaplan Freeman, Johns Hopkins Medicine's former vice president of corporate communications, who served as head of the public affairs and marketing office from 1982 to 2005; two sons, Andrew D. Freeman of Baltimore and Joshua L. Freeman of Chevy Chase, Md.; one daughter, Jennifer B. Freeman of New York City; and six grandchildren. Survivors also include his brother, Donald D. Freeman of Silver Spring, and a step-sister, Laura Lippman Sager of New York City.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Dr. Freeman may be made to the Freeman Clinical Bioethics Fund at the Berman Bioethics Institute, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218, or to the John M. Freeman Leadership Endowment in the JHU Department of Neurology.

Sincerely,
Justin McArthur
Neurologist-in-Chief, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

George Dover
Director, Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins Hospital