Administrator of General Services Nomination of Rear Adm. Rowland G. Freeman Ill .

The President today announced that he will nominate Rear Adm. Rowland G. Freeman III of Fort Belvoir, Va., to be Administrator of the General Services Administration. He would replace Jay Solomon, who has resigned effective March 31.

Freeman is currently the Commandant of the Defense Systems Management College at Fort Belvoir. He has served in that position since June 30, 1977.

Freeman was born February 11, 1922, in New York City. He attended the University of Massachusetts from 1940 to 1942, when he enlisted in the Naval Reserve. He served as a naval aviator from 1943 to 1947, participating in most of the major engagements in the Southwest Pacific during World War II. From 1947 to 1950, he held several assignments involving test pilot flying duties.

From 1950 to 1953, he attended Harvard University, graduating with an MBA degree. Freeman served as Head of the Workload and Components Purchase Section of the Bureau of Aeronautics from 1954 to 1957, and from 1957 to 1960, he headed the Astronautics and Missile Departments of the Naval Missile Center at Port Mugu, Calif.

Freeman served as a squadron commanding officer from 1960 to 1961, and as air officer and navigator of the U.S.S. Oriskany in 1962 and 1963. From 1963 to 1964, he was Bureau of Naval Weapons representative in St. Louis, with collateral duties as production test pilot for the Navy F-4 Phantom II fighter. In 1965 and 1966, he commanded the U.S.S. Procyon, a refrigerator supply ship serving bases in Southeast Asia.

From 1966 to 1968, he served as project manager of the Navy F-111B program, and from 1968 to 1973, Freeman was Deputy Chief of Naval Material Procurement and Production. From 1974 until 1977, he was Commander of the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake. The center is the Navy's single largest laboratory complex, with 4,000 employees, 1,000 military personnel, and an annual budget of $200 million. In 1977 Freeman became Commandant of the Defense Systems Management College.

He is a fellow and member of the board of advisors of the National Contract Management Association, a fellow and member of the board of advisors of the Society of Logistic Engineers, a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a member of the American Society of Naval Engineers.