He also was a prominent scholar of Chinese philosophy and a generous philanthropist.
The Freeman Asian Scholarship was established at Wesleyan in his honor.
[2][3] In addition, his endowment established the Freeman Center for East Asian Studies at the university.
[4][5] Freeman's published works include an introduction to and translation of Preservation of Learning by Yen Yuan, a 17th-century Chinese philosopher.
In 1990, he co-authored Tai Chen and Mencius: Explorations in Words and Meaning with Annping Chin, who is now a professor at Yale.