It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Herb Freeman, a pioneer in our field and one of the founders of the IAPR more than 40 years ago. The ExCo expresses our deepest condolences to Herb’s family, friends, and colleagues on behalf of the entire IAPR community.
Herb had a long and productive career that touched many, many people. He worked on the development of the first electronic computers in the early days of computing, and helped initiate computing engineering as a discipline at three major U.S. universities. He published over 100 papers, authored a number of books, and helped to establish important journals. He was one of the select group of founders who organized the first “ICPR” in 1973, which marked the start of his leadership service that culminated in his role in the formal founding of IAPR in 1978. Over the years Herb served as a Vice President, Treasurer, and ultimately President of the IAPR. He was awarded the K.S. Fu Prize in 1994.
Herb’s numerous important contributions in the early days of our field place him in very rare company; he will be missed. I encourage you to read the personal remembrances of Herb in the January 2021 Special Issue of the IAPR Newsletter.
With deep sympathy,
Dan Lopresti, IAPR President