Herbert Freeman was a core founder of the IAPR. He made numerous substantive contributions for five years leading up to the IAPR’s official incorporation in 1978, then continued to serve the Association for more than three decades.
As the first Vice Chairman of the First International Joint Conference on Pattern Recognition (IJCPR 1973, the forerunner of the ICPR series) and as a Vice Chairman of the Second IJCPR (1974), Herb had already been the 1st Vice President and 2nd Vice President of the association for which, in 1975, he proposed the name, “International Association for Pattern Recognition.” He then served as the IAPR Treasurer (1976–78), and beginning in 1977, he led the effort to register the IAPR as a nonprofit professional organization, resulting in its tax-exempt, incorporated status, granted on January 30, 1978 (New York State, USA). During this time, Herb also negotiated the acceptance of the IAPR as an affiliate of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).
After official incorporation of the IAPR in 1978, Herb Freeman was elected IAPR President (1978–80) and served as Past President (1980–82). He then returned to his former role as the IAPR Treasurer for three additional terms (1982–88). In total, he served 15 years as a member of the IAPR Executive Committee, a record of stewardship that will likely remain unbroken.
Herbert Freeman made extensive leadership contributions beyond the Executive Committee. Having contributed to the writing of the first IAPR Constitution in 1974–75, he also chaired the Constitution and Bylaws Committee for three terms (1980–84 and 1992–94), as well as the Nominations Committee (1980–82), the Awards Committee (1994–96), the K.S. Fu Award Committee (1996–98), and the Advisory Committee (2008–10). In years when he was not leading one or more committees, he often served as an ordinary member of a standing committee, including Standing Conferences, Publications, Constitution and Bylaws, Nominating, K.S. Fu Award, and Advisory committees. He was also the General Chair of ICPR 1990.
Further, Herb was a link between the IAPR and other professional societies, serving in the USA’s IAPR member society, and as a Governing Board Representative for the United States (1978–1992). He also served in the IFIP for many years, where he reported at their annual meetings as the IAPR Representative (1976–1989).
Altogether, Herbert Freeman made outstanding contributions to the IAPR, both substantive and formative, over an amazing 37 years.