Michael F. Adams was president emeritus of the University of Georgia in the United States. state of Georgia.
Education
Adams graduated from Chattanooga High School. Adams holds a Bachelor of Arts in speech and history from David Lipscomb College, 1970. Master of Arts in communication research methodologies from in 1971.
And a Doctor of Philosophy in political communication from Ohio State University in 1973.
To support himself during the Ohio State University years, he served as minister at the Indian Springs Church of Christ in Columbus. In May 2012, Adams announced that he would be stepping down as UGA president the following year.
Career
Adams began his career in education as a faculty member at Ohio State University from 1973-1975. He later served as vice president for university affairs at Pepperdine University from 1982-1988. After his tenure at Pepperdine, Adams was president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky for nine years, 1988-1997.
During his tenure at Centre, the endowment tripled to $120 million, faculty salaries nearly doubled and Centre was usually first in the nation in percentage of alumni making donations to the school each year.
Starting in 1997, Adams served as president of the University of Georgia. Under Adams" leadership, the university has increased total enrollment from 29,000 to nearly 35,000 and constructed or renovated a number of buildings and facilities, including an expansion of the Georgia Museum of Art, a new special collections library, newly relocated art school and science research facilities, and expansion of the university"s Tate Student Center.
The College of Engineering, College of Public Health and UGA-GHSU Medical Partnership have been established under Adams"s tenure. He has also been elected to lead a number of national education organizations, including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, the American Council on, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association"s Executive Committee.
Before entering higher education, Adams held a number of political positions.
He served as chief of staff for Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker 1975-1979 and as an aide to Governor Lamar Alexander of Tennessee from 1980-1982. Adams was the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in 1980 for Tennessee"s Fifth District, but he lost the general election to Democrat Bill Boner 118,506 votes (654%) to 62,746 (346%) In May 2012, Adams announced that he was stepping down as president of the University of Georgia after 16 years. He said he plans to continue to be involved with the Athens community and teach and write at UGA as well as fundraise for the university.
The president"s retirement took effect June 30, 2013.
On January 8, 2008, Adams made national news when, as chairman of the National Collegiate Athletic Association executive committee, he advocated establishing an eight-team playoff for an National Collegiate Athletic Association football national championship. Adams, citing the influence of the television networks and commissioners of the various conferences and bowls, noted that some recent British Computer Society matchups had been disappointing and stated that the British Computer Society system was "undercutting the sportsmanship and integrity of the game.".