Bryan Freeman, the naming donor of the Freeman Center for Jewish Life and a Duke parent, died Oct. 18. He was 56.
Described by his friends as a generous and humble man, and by his family as a hard-working father who would do anything to provide for his loved ones, Freeman funded the center to provide a hub for the Jewish community at Duke.
"He'll be remembered as a generous person who came through for the Jewish community at Duke when there was a need for vision and courage," said FCJL director Roger Kaplan.
The Freeman Center, which completed construction in 1999 at an estimated cost of $3 million, had been in planning since the mid-1980s, but funding had stalled until a major gift from Freeman.
"The Freeman Center, because it is such a handsome and functional facility, has brought many non-Jews into a Jewish space for the first time and has thereby made them feel more comfortable in a Jewish space. And that is good for bridging gaps between cultures," said Vice Provost for Academic and Administrative Services Judith Ruderman, a friend of Freeman.
Freeman was reluctant to have the Jewish center named after him, said Gretchen Cooley, an administrative assistant at the FCJL. "He kept the naming of the gift anonymous until his daughters left Duke. But because Duke was getting ready to put the signs up, he agreed to let the center be named after him," Cooley said.
His family declined to comment on the cause of his death, and New Jersey officials are still investigating.
"He was a fiercely loving and loyal father and husband," said Danyelle Freeman, who attended the University for two years with the Class of 1996 before transferring. "He went to great lengths to provide us with every opportunity."
She added that her father was a workaholic. "The only thing he did was spend time with his wife, his three children and work.... He'd work until 1 a.m. and go back at 4 a.m.," the daughter said.
Freeman, who served as a principal adviser to the U.S. Treasury Department and ran his own financial services company, Bryan M. Freeman Enterprises, worked his way into prominence in dealing with bankruptcies and corporate restructurings, earning the nickname "Mr. Bailout" among Washington, D.C., insiders.
Freeman graduated first in his class in 1946 from Rutgers University and earned law and business degrees from Harvard University.
He is survived by his wife Harriet, his daughters Amanda, Trinity '97, and Danyelle, and his son Heath, a senior.
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