Professor Freeman is Dean Emerita of The Ohio State University at Mansfield, and Professor Emerita in the School of Teaching and Learning.  She currently serves as Special Assistant for International Programs in the College of Education and Human Ecology.  Her areas of expertise include teacher education, children's literature, and elementary literacy. She received a BA in Sociology from Chatham College, an MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in Early and Middle Childhood Education from The Ohio State University.  Dr. Freeman has co-authored four books, many book chapters, and numerous scholarly articles.  She has presented widely at conferences both in the United States and internationally in such locations as South Africa, Hungary, Argentina, and Chile. She is former co-editor of Bookbird: a Journal of International Children's Literature.