page_title: Hans Freeman
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Hans Freeman / Biography / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Cartoon representation of the molecular structure of protein registered with 1plc code. Deutsch: Grafik des Molekularstruktur von jenem Protein, das mit 1plc code registriert ist. Plattdüütsch: Grafik, de de Molekularstruktur von dat Protein wiest, dat mit’n Kood 1plc registreert is.
context_page_description: Hans Charles Freeman AM, FAA was a German-born Australian bioinorganic chemist, protein crystallographer, and Professor of Inorganic Chemistry who spent most of his academic career at the University of Sydney. His best known contributions to chemistry were his work explaining the unusual structural, electrochemical, and spectroscopic properties of blue copper proteins, particularly plastocyanin. He also introduced protein crystallography to Australia and was a strong advocate for programs to ensure Australian scientists have good access to "big science" facilities. Freeman has received numerous honours, including being elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and appointed a Member of the Order of Australia by the Australian Government. He was a charismatic lecturer who voluntarily continued teaching well into his formal retirement and imbued his students with a love of science.
context_section_description: Freeman was appointed to the faculty of the University of Sydney in 1954 as a Lecturer, working his way up until he was made the inaugural Professor of Inorganic Chemistry in 1971. Freeman pioneered the use of computers in crystallography in Australia, working on SILLIAC (the Australian cousin of the University of Illinois' ILLIAC machine and Australia's second computer) after its installation in 1956.  His research group extended its interests beyond purely organic compounds and on to metal complexes (such as copper biuret, one of the first bioinorganic substances to be structurally determined) and went on to determine the structures of numerous metal complexes of amino acids and peptides.
  In 1970, the focus of Freeman's research became protein crystallography and he turned his attention to the blue copper proteins (cupredoxins) and particularly the electron transport protein plastocyanin.  The intensely blue colour of plastocyanin and its unusual redox properties had frustrated all attempts to synthesise a small molecule mimic. It was not until 1977 that his group finally determined the structure of plastocyanin crystallised from the poplar tree (see diagram at right); this was the first protein crystal structure determined in the southern hemisphere. Together with subsequent work in collaboration with Ed Solomon, this work led to understanding of the unusual geometry of the copper metal site (see diagram at left) as well as the spectroscopic and electrochemical properties characteristic of blue copper proteins.
  Later in his career, Freeman developed an interest in the applications of EXAFS spectroscopy to metalloprotein structure, collaborating with both James Penner-Hahn and Keith Hodgson. Working together, the Freeman and Hodgson groups were, in 1988, the first to determine a new crystal structure of a protein using the multiple wavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) method.
  Throughout his career, Freeman was concerned about the influence of the tyranny of distance on the development of Australian science.  For this reason, in 1972 Freeman and Alexander Boden AO, FAA, founded the Foundation for Inorganic Chemistry at the university to bring international scholars to the department to deliver a course for graduate students and give seminars for faculty. The inaugural Foundation scholar was nobel laureate Linus Pauling and the Foundation has brought many other eminent research chemists to Australia.  The Foundation has thus functioned to increase Australian awareness of state of the art international research, increased international recognition of Australian research, and allowed graduate students to interact with leading chemists based in institutions far from Australia. Many of the students have gone on to post-graduate or post-doctoral positions with a Foundation scholar.
  Freeman also provided advice to the Australian Government on the problem of access to "big science" facilities.  This included making major contributions to the report Small Country - Big Science in his work for the Australian Science and Technology Council. The report emphasised the need for Australian researchers to have access to facilities such as synchrotron X-ray and high intensity neutron sources, and led directly to the formation of the Australian Synchrotron Research Programme (ASRP) to fund access to such facilities.  Freeman served as a board member of the ASRP until its functions were subsumed under the newly commissioned Australian Synchrotron in 2008. The Australian expertise developed as a consequence of ASRP-supported research led to the Australian Synchrotron being built a decade sooner than would have otherwise been the case.
  Freeman retired from his Chair in 1997, and was succeeded by Len Lindoy FAA.  Nevertheless, he continued working in research and became Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and Emeritus Professor of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences.  He also voluntarily continued teaching at first-year level. His lecturing was described as "charismatic" and "teaching was a love and a privilege and never an obligation" for him.
caption: Structure of poplar plastocyanin[12]
exif: {}