J. Michael Adams ’69, an alum of the Department of Technology in the College of Applied Science and Technology, received a posthumous honorary degree at this year’s Founders Day celebration in February.
Adams received a bachelor of science degree from Illinois State in 1969, a master of science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1972, and a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1976. He also received a degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education’s institute for educational management program in 1997.
Adams started his academic career at the State University of New York at Oswego, where he became full professor and dean of the Alumni College. He was also a Congressional Fellow for U.S. Representative Carl C. Perkins and served as dean of the Nesbitt College of Design Arts at Drexel University for 15 years.
In 1999, he became the president of Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he launched several innovations, including PublicMind, an independent survey research group, and the United Nations Pathways program. He also helped the institution gain nongovernmental organization (NGO) status at the United Nations and made Fairleigh Dickinson the first university in the world to earn “Special Consultative Status” with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Adams died June 21, 2012, of acute myeloid leukemia.
