Sydney M. Friedman was born in Montreal, Quebec, on February 17, 1916. He attended McGill University, receiving a BA in 1938, MD, CM in 1940, and (after serving as a Flight Lieutenant in the RCAF, his Ph.D. in 1946. He married Constance A. Livingstone in September of 1940. Their personal and professional relationship was to last over 50 years, and much of Friedman's work was carried out with her assistance.
Upon receiving his doctorate, Friedman began to teach Anatomy at McGill until he moved to head the fledgling Anatomy department in the Faculty of Medicine at The University of British Columbia. Friedman would retain his position as professor and department head from 1950 until 1981.
In addition to his administrative and teaching duties, Friedman was an extremely active member and leader in various organizations with regional, national, and international interests. Among these were the Canadian Association of Anatomists, serving on the Council (1955-57), and later as 2nd Vice-President (1962-3), 1st Vice-President (1963-64), and President (1965-66). He was also an executive member of the American Association of Anatomists (1970-74). In addition, he was a founding member of the BC. Heart Foundation, and also served on the Council for High Blood Pressure Research and the Research Study Committee of the American Heart Association, the Scientific Subcommittee of the Canadian Heart Foundation, the Defense Research Board panel on Shock and Plasma Expanders, the NIH Hypertension Task Force, the International Society of Hypertension, and the Council of the Canadian Physiological Society. Friedman was active on The University of British Columbia campus as well, as a member of the Senate and the Faculty Association; as an integral member of the House Committee of the Faculty Club (1957-59); on the first faculty committee involved in the selection of a University President (1960); and on the Committee on Faculty Participation in University Government (1960-65).
Friedman also won numerous awards and honours, beginning in 1955 with the Premier Award of the CIBA Foundation Awards for Research in Aging. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1963. In 1971 he was named Pfizer Travelling Fellow of the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society's Annual Lecturer. In 1981 he received the Outstanding Service Award from the Heart Foundations of Canada; in 1982, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association of Anatomists; and in 1987, the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Canadian Hypertension Society. In 1992 he received the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.
Friedman was a prolific author, publishing some 200 research papers over 40 years despite a heavy workload. He also wrote and illustrated a popular textbook entitled Visual Anatomy. The book consisted of hand-drawn anatomical illustrations with relevant text on the opposite, facing page. The book was first published in two volumes, Head and Neck (1950) and Thorax and Abdomen (1952). It was extensively revised and re-published almost twenty years later (1970-72) in three volumes, Limbs and Back, being added in 1972.
Friedman's research was primarily concerned with hypertension, blood pressure, and ageing, particularly renal physiology and the role of electrolytes and fluid balance in maintaining blood pressure levels. His research took him through several disciplines, from morphology to electrochemistry. He was the first to demonstrate that the hypertensive process can become irreversible. A diminution of neurohypophyseal function plays a fundamental role in ageing. Despite his concentration, Friedman could correspond with many other researchers on matters unrelated to his interests. By the sheer volume of correspondence, it is clear that Friedman was more than capable of lending his expertise to various research interests. Although Friedman reached retirement age in the early 1980s, he continued researching the early 1990s before retiring and living in Vancouver. He died in 2015.