photo of Professor Freund

Professor Louis Freund

Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Louis E. Freund was one of 50 individuals nationwide recognized by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society for contributions to the field over the past half century.

“Our fellow members of HIMSS have worked tirelessly for 50 years to create and improve IT and management systems,” said former board chair Justin Myrick. “It has been a labor of love for our members to provide tools for those medical professionals who give hands-on quality care to people in need – often during times of their greatest need.”

Ten individuals were recognized for each of the five decades since the founding of the organization in 1961. Although Freund was recognized for his accomplishments during the 1970s, he remains very active in his field. He directs the graduate program in human factors and ergonomics at SJSU, where he has been on the faculty since 1986.

Freund began his career at the University of Missouri, where he managed the healthcare systems training grant for doctoral students in industrial engineering and a research grant related to measuring the difficulty of nursing assignments in inpatient nursing units.

He joined Medicus Systems Corporation in 1975, overseeing management engineering programs at client sites. Later, Freund worked as an independent consultant with projects that included operating room management systems design and implementation, nurse staffing studies, and hospital productivity benchmarking with MECON Inc.

Freund also served as the director of the Health Services Division of the Institute of Industrial Engineers from 1977-1979. In 1988, Freund was elected to the founding board of the Society for Health Systems of the Institute of Industrial Engineers; he served as SHS president in 1991 and is an IIE Fellow.#