Barbara Freed, academic turned filmmaker, Dies at 84

Dr. Barbara F. Freed, Professor Emeritus of French and Applied Linguistics at Carnegie Melon University, died at her home in Philadelphia on March 24, 2026. Barbara is survived by her husband, Alan Mittelman; her sister, Alice F. Freed; her nephew, Marc Freed-Finnegan; her great-nephew, Luc Freed-Finnegan; and her stepchildren Lisa Mittelman and Michael Mittelman. She was predeceased by her first husband, Sheldon Tabb. Barbara was the daughter of Lillian and Maurice Freed.

Freed devoted her professional life to the study of second language acquisition and to the art and culture of the French Riviera. Love of the art of the south of France led her to create the award-winning documentary A Model for Matisse, a film that explores the friendship between Henri Matisse and Soeur Jacques-Marie, the Dominican nun who inspired Matisse to create the Matisse Chapel in Vence, France.

Barbara received a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. After serving as Vice Dean for Language Instruction at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1990 she was invited to join the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University as Professor of French and Applied Linguistics. At CMU, she founded and chaired its first Department of Modern Languages. Her landmark book, Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context in 1995, helped establish the study of language learning abroad as a major area of research.

Yet many would say that Barbara’s real persona was the world of art in the south of France. She returned regularly to France where she taught in summer programs and frequently visited the Riviera, deepening her knowledge and attachment to the region’s artists and museums. She brought her love of this art to a wider audience first through her book Artists and Their Museums on the Riviera and then through her translation into English of Henri Matisse: The Vence Chapel written by Sister Jacques-Marie, the nun who inspired Matisse the create the Chapel. Barbara turned the story into the award-winning documentary A Model for Matisse. The film received the Pierre Salinger Award for best documentary at the Avignon/New York Film Festival in 2005 and honors for best film for television at the International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal. In recognition of her contributions to French culture and education, in 2009 the French government named Barbara an Officier in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

After retiring from Carnegie Mellon, Barbara delighted in world-wide travel, and returned regularly to France to the home that she and her husband, Alan Mittelman, created in Villefranche-sur-Mer. In addition to art, she loved opera and chamber music, gardening, cooking and wine, and took great pleasure in bringing people together, whether in Philadelphia or in her beloved home in France. Charitable organizations that benefitted from her love of art and education were Carnegie Mellon University, the International French School of Philadelphia, the Barnes Foundation, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Sociological Initiatives.

Always an enthusiastic supporter of education, Barbara set an example for other faculty members at Carnegie Mellon by establishing the Barbara F. Freed Faculty Research Fellowship and then later the Barbara F. Freed Endowed Chair, both supporting the CMU Dept. of Modern Languages.

Relatives and friends are invited to Funeral Services, Friday, 12:30 PM precisely at Goldsteins’ Rosenberg’s Funeral Directors Inc., 6410 N. Broad St., Phila., PA. Int. Roosevelt Mem. Park. The family will return to Barbara’s home immediately after the burial and then again Friday evening and the two following evenings.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Barbara’s favorite charitable organizations, the International French School of Philadelphia, 150 N. Highland Road, Bala-Cynwyd, PA 19004, Sociological Initiatives Foundation, Inc., c/o GMA Foundations, 2 Liberty Square, Boston, MA 02109 or the Barbara Freed and Alan Mittelman Fund at the Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, Philadelphia, PA 19130