Before receiving his Medical Degree from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Dr. Freeman received engineering training from Auburn University and served as a pilot with the U.S. Navy. He had two Fellowships, including the Heed Fellowship, at Harvard Medical School and trained in intraocular lens implantation in the Netherlands. A clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, Dr. Freeman served on the boards of numerous medical and eye organizations and journals. He was a past president of the Memphis Medical Society and a past president of the American Board of Eye Surgery (ABES). Dr. Freeman was also Board Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.

In 1978 Dr. Freeman founded the World Cataract Foundation and remained a driving force in its vision and growth. Since 1970 he led medical mission teams around the world to provide life-changing sight-restoring surgeries to the poor. Dr. Freeman was an internationally known speaker, author, inventor and surgeon.