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Home > Public Engagement > Public Lectures : Esther Freier Endowed Lecture in Literature Series

Esther Freier Endowed Lecture in Literature Series

The literary legacy that Esther Freier envisioned began in 2001 when celebrated author Jamaica Kincaid inaugurated the Esther Freier Endowed Lecture in Literature Series. A clinical laboratory chemist and professor, Freier had a deep and profound love for literature and the humanities. She wanted to leave a legacy that would benefit the public and inspire emerging authors. In her will, she endowed a lecture series that would bring prize-winning national and international authors to campus to give public lectures, visit with students, conduct workshops, or serve in other short, residential capacities. Freier wished for writers “whose work had made a significant contribution to humanistic inquiry through literature and literary study.”

Esther Freier was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, in 1925. She moved to Minneapolis while still a child and spent her entire academic (B.S. ‘46, M.S. ‘56) and professional career of 45 years at the University of Minnesota. She co-authored the first paper dealing with quality control in clinical chemistry, winning several awards. When she retired in 1991, she held the only endowed professorship in medical technology in the nation. That year, Freier served as the first woman president of the Academy of Clinical and Laboratory Physicians and Scientists and was re-elected the following year.

Esther Freier was a teacher, friend, and mentor to many. The English Department is deeply grateful for her generosity to us, the University, and the community.

Esther Freier Endowed Lecturers

Feb 5 01	Jamaica Kincaid	Toni McNaron introduction
Mar 26 01	W. S. Merwin	Kent Bales introduction
Mar 15 02	Barry Lopez	Madelon Sprengnether introduction
Nov 22 02	Edmund White	David Treuer introduction
Feb 9 03	Michael Chabon	Thomas Augst introduction
Oct 10 03	Arnold Rampersad	John Wright introduction
Apr 17 04	A. S. Byatt	Gordon Hirsch introduction
Nov 7 04	Rita Dove	Michael Dennis Browne introduction
Apr 15 05	Anna Deavere Smith	Paula Rabinowitz introduction
Oct 19 05	Philip Levine	Michael Dennis Browne introduction
Apr 11 06	T. C. Boyle	Julie Schumacher introduction
Nov 3 06	Bharati Mukherjee	Charles Sugnet introduction
Apr 11 07	E. L. Doctorow	Edward Griffin introduction
Nov 28 07	Paul Muldoon	David Treuer introduction
Mar 26 08	Suzan-Lori Parks	Josephine Lee introduction
Oct 29 08	Junot Díaz	Evelyn Ch'ien introduction
Mar 4 09	Louise Glück	Charles Baxter introduction
Sept 30 09	Maxine Hong Kingston	Josephine Lee introduction
Apr 14 10	Richard Powers	David Treuer introduction
Oct 27 10	James Salter	Julie Schumacher introduction
Apr 27 11	Natasha Trethewey	Maria Damon introduction
Oct 10 11	Philip Gourevitch	Patricia Hampl introduction
Apr 11 12	Denis Johnson	Julie Schumacher introduction

 

"Thanks so much for another wonderful evening! Thanks too for maintaining your mailing list so well, so I get to hear and meet authors from everywhere!"

Lecture attendee