John S. Adams papers

John S. Adams, an Emeritus Professor of the Department of Geography and the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the College of St. Thomas in 1960, a Masters degree in Economics and minor in Statistics from the University of Minnesota in 1962, and a Ph.D. in Geography and minor in Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1966. (1) In 1966, he became an Assistant Professor of Geography at Pennsylvania State University and soon joined the Department of Geography at the University of Minnesota as an Associate Professor in 1970. (1) From 1971 to 1974, Adams was the Acting Director of the Urban Planning Program for the School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, while simultaneously leading the Association of American Geographers’ Comparative Metropolitan Analysis Project as the Research Director. (1) By 1976, Adams became the first director of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and held that role until 1979. (1) Between 1980 and 1981, Adams took a sabbatical leave to be a visiting research fellow at the Institute for Urban and Regional Development at the University of California at Berkeley, as well as an Economic Geographer in Residence at the Bank of America World Headquarters in San Francisco. He continued teaching at the University of Minnesota from 1981 up until his retirement in 2007, when he became the interim Associate Dean for the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, as well as the co-director of the University Metropolitan Consortium. (1) His work mainly focuses on the housing market, its economic development and the effects of urban transportation. He has also expanded outside of the United States and researched these similar topics in the former Soviet Union. Other areas of research have included land use and transportation issues, specifically in the state of Minnesota, through the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) and the Center for Transportation Studies. (1)

Books Adams has written include Spatial Organization in 1971, Urban Policy Making and Metropolitan Dynamics in 1976, Contemporary Metropolitan America in 1976, A Comparative Atlas of America’s Great Cities in 1976, Housing America in the 1980s in 1988 and most recently Minneapolis-St. Paul: People, Place and Public Life co authored with Barbara J. VanDrasek, in 1993. (1) Other major accomplishments Adams received was the Fulbright-Hays award in May of 1975, where he spent time at the Vienna Institute of Commerce in Austria and taught lectures in the field of metropolitan analysis.(1) Thirteen years later, he earned another Fulbright-Hays award in March of 1988, where he was a lecturer at Moscow State University and taught on the evolution of American metropolitan regions and their current social and economic structures. (1) In September of 2000, Adams was named the first Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs. (1)

References:

(1) Biographical File, Adams, John S., Information files collection, University Archives.