Peter Freeman

Peter A. Freeman is Dean Emeritus and was Founding Dean of the College of Computing from 1990 to 2002. He continues to work with Georgia Tech on specific projects and is a Director with the Washington Advisory Group.

From 2002 to 2007, he was Assistant Director of NSF, heading the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Directorate. He previously held positions at George Mason University, NSF, the University of California, Irvine, and Carnegie-Mellon University. He is a resident of Washington, DC.

He has focused his attention for the past twenty years on national policy and local action intended to advance science and engineering research and education. For more than thirty years, he has been active internationally –– teaching, lecturing, and consulting overseas for extensive periods.

As a Director at the Washington Advisory Group, he advises on university and R&D strategy and management, especially in information technology, cyber-infrastructure, research networks, and software development. The Washington Advisory Group provides strategic counsel and management consulting to the leaders of companies, universities, governments and non-profit organizations. It was founded in 1996 by a group of leaders in national science policy and research funding, including Erich Bloch, Frank Press, and Bob White.

Dr. Freeman held the first endowed dean’s chair at Georgia Tech. Under his leadership, the College of Computing became one of the strongest and largest computing research and education groups in the country. In 1998, he chaired the Sam Nunn NationsBank Policy Forum on information security, which led to the creation of the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, a comprehensive center focused on information security. From 1992 to 1995, he also acted as the university's Chief Information Officer and was a key part of the team that prepared the campus to host the 1996 Olympics.

As an Assistant Director of NSF he was part of the senior management team that helped formulate national science policy and that operated the NSF. As AD/CISE, he oversaw a staff of approximately 100 and a funding budget of over $500M/year. CISE is responsible for over 85% of the Federal funding for fundamental computer science research in academia. As the senior computing research official in the U.S. Government, he led the inter-agency NITRD Subcommittee that coordinates all Federal Networking and IT R&D. At NSF, he was also responsible for insuring that the U.S. computing research community was well connected internationally.

During his time as AD/CISE, Dr. Freeman was responsible for a number of activities that have had a major impact on computing, including: leading the Information Technology Research Program, overseeing a comprehensive reorganization of the CISE Directorate, leading the elevation of cyberinfrastructure to a major activity across NSF, initiating the GENI Internet Research project, coordinating homeland security research across NSF, and starting several key CISE programs including Broadening Participation in Computing, Science of Design, and the Computing Community Consortium. As a division director at NSF in the 1980’s he was part of a small team that drafted the Government’s influential High-Performance Computing Initiative.

Dr. Freeman is widely recognized for his technical and educational activities in software systems and software engineering, and computer science and information technology more generally. In addition to his academic and research activities, he is an experienced university and government executive and manager, and a seasoned lecturer and consultant to corporations, governments, and universities in more than a dozen countries.

His research and technical expertise is focused on software systems and software engineering, and computer science more broadly. He co-authored The Supply of Information Technology Workers in the United States and authored Software Perspectives: The System is the Message, Software Systems Principles, and numerous technical papers. In addition, he edited or co-edited four books including, Software Reusability and Software Design Techniques.

Dr. Freeman received his Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie-Mellon University, his M.A. in mathematics and psychology from University of Texas at Austin, and his B.A. in physics and mathematics from Rice University.

He is a Fellow of the IEEE, ACM, and the AAAS.

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	PETER FREEMAN Emeritus Dean and Professor 202.294.5399 \| EMAIL Areas of Interest : University strategy and management History and Future of Computing Science Policy Cyberinfrastructure Software Design, Methodology & Engineering Selection of current activities: GENI Project Management Advisory Board Johns Hopkins Computer Science Advisory Board TU Kaiserslautern Science Advisory Board University of the UAE College of Information Technology Advisory Board Council on Competitiveness HPC Advisory Committee ACM Distinguished Speaker Author and consultant Editorial Board, Communications of the ACM
Peter A. Freeman is Dean Emeritus and was Founding Dean of the College of Computing from 1990 to 2002. He continues to work with Georgia Tech on specific projects and is a Director with the Washington Advisory Group. From 2002 to 2007, he was Assistant Director of NSF, heading the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Directorate. He previously held positions at George Mason University, NSF, the University of California, Irvine, and Carnegie-Mellon University. He is a resident of Washington, DC. He has focused his attention for the past twenty years on national policy and local action intended to advance science and engineering research and education. For more than thirty years, he has been active internationally –– teaching, lecturing, and consulting overseas for extensive periods. As a Director at the Washington Advisory Group, he advises on university and R&D strategy and management, especially in information technology, cyber-infrastructure, research networks, and software development. The Washington Advisory Group provides strategic counsel and management consulting to the leaders of companies, universities, governments and non-profit organizations. It was founded in 1996 by a group of leaders in national science policy and research funding, including Erich Bloch, Frank Press, and Bob White. Dr. Freeman held the first endowed dean’s chair at Georgia Tech. Under his leadership, the College of Computing became one of the strongest and largest computing research and education groups in the country. In 1998, he chaired the Sam Nunn NationsBank Policy Forum on information security, which led to the creation of the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, a comprehensive center focused on information security. From 1992 to 1995, he also acted as the university's Chief Information Officer and was a key part of the team that prepared the campus to host the 1996 Olympics. As an Assistant Director of NSF he was part of the senior management team that helped formulate national science policy and that operated the NSF. As AD/CISE, he oversaw a staff of approximately 100 and a funding budget of over $500M/year. CISE is responsible for over 85% of the Federal funding for fundamental computer science research in academia. As the senior computing research official in the U.S. Government, he led the inter-agency NITRD Subcommittee that coordinates all Federal Networking and IT R&D. At NSF, he was also responsible for insuring that the U.S. computing research community was well connected internationally. During his time as AD/CISE, Dr. Freeman was responsible for a number of activities that have had a major impact on computing, including: leading the Information Technology Research Program, overseeing a comprehensive reorganization of the CISE Directorate, leading the elevation of cyberinfrastructure to a major activity across NSF, initiating the GENI Internet Research project, coordinating homeland security research across NSF, and starting several key CISE programs including Broadening Participation in Computing, Science of Design, and the Computing Community Consortium. As a division director at NSF in the 1980’s he was part of a small team that drafted the Government’s influential High-Performance Computing Initiative. Dr. Freeman is widely recognized for his technical and educational activities in software systems and software engineering, and computer science and information technology more generally. In addition to his academic and research activities, he is an experienced university and government executive and manager, and a seasoned lecturer and consultant to corporations, governments, and universities in more than a dozen countries. His research and technical expertise is focused on software systems and software engineering, and computer science more broadly. He co-authored The Supply of Information Technology Workers in the United States and authored Software Perspectives: The System is the Message, Software Systems Principles, and numerous technical papers. In addition, he edited or co-edited four books including, Software Reusability and Software Design Techniques. Dr. Freeman received his Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie-Mellon University, his M.A. in mathematics and psychology from University of Texas at Austin, and his B.A. in physics and mathematics from Rice University. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, ACM, and the AAAS. Back to CoC Home Page