Robert McCormick Adams Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 9th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution | |
| In office 1984–1994 | |
| Preceded by | S. Dillon Ripley |
| Succeeded by | I. Michael Heyman |
| Director of theOriental Institute, Chicago | |
| In office 1962–1968 | |
| Preceded by | Carl Hermann Kraeling |
| Succeeded by | George R. Hughes |
| In office 1981–1983 | |
| Preceded by | John A. Brinkman |
| Succeeded by | Janet Johnson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1926-07-23)July 23, 1926 Chicago,Illinois,U.S. |
| Died | January 27, 2018(2018-01-27) (aged 91) Chula Vista, California,U.S. |
| Education | University of Chicago (BA,MA,PhD) |
| Known for | Research inIraq Anthropology Archaeology |
| Spouse | Ruth Skinner Adams |
| Awards | Gold Medal Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Archaeology |
| Thesis | Level and trend in early Sumerian civilization (1956) |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert J. Braidwood |
| Doctoral students | Guillermo Algaze Gregory Possehl Henry T. Wright |
Robert McCormick Adams Jr. (July 23, 1926 – January 27, 2018)[1] was an Americananthropologist and secretary of theSmithsonian Institution (1984–94).[2] He worked in both theNear East andMesoamerica. A long time professor of the University of Chicago, he was best known for his research inIraq.[3]
[3]Born inChicago,Illinois, he attendedFrancis W. Parker School and graduated in 1943. He received hisdoctorate from theUniversity of Chicago (1957), where he was also employed as a member of the faculty. He was Director of theOriental Institute at the University of Chicago (1962–68, 1981–83).[4] He served as theprovost of the University of Chicago (1982–84).[3] He was anadjunct professor at theUniversity of California, San Diego, at the time of his death.[3]
Adams served as the ninth secretary of theSmithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., from 1984 to 1994.[3] He was installed as Smithsonian Secretary on September 17, 1984, becoming the head of an Institution with thirteen museums, a National Zoo, and scientific and cultural research facilities in nine states and the Republic of Panama. As the successor toS. Dillon Ripley, Adams sought to prepare the Institution for the 21st century, focus on scholarship, increase public programs, and emphasize a broader representation and involvement of diverse ethnic and cultural communities in the Smithsonian and its programs. Adams oversaw construction of the Quadrangle, a building project that brought together two museums and many disparate offices into a single structure, but he also sounded the alarm to the US Congress about the state of the Institution's aging infrastructure and began the systematic renovation of existing facilities. These "bricks and mortar" projects included renovation of theFreer Gallery of Art, the construction of the Mathias Laboratory at theSmithsonian Environmental Research Center, and the Earl S. Tupper Research and Conference Center at theSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.[4]
During Adams's tenure, the Smithsonian acquired theNational Museum of the American Indian, and theNational Postal Museum was established to showcase the National Philatelic Collection. The National Science Resources Center was created to improve the teaching of pre-college science and mathematics, and the International Center was established to explore ancient and evolving cultures and to serve as the Smithsonian's headquarters for Latin American scholarship, exhibitions, and programs. Adams formed the Smithsonian Cultural Education Committee to promote diversity across all aspects of Smithsonian operations. He also encouraged digitization projects, such as theNational Air and Space Museum's videodisc technology for storage and retrieval of documents, photos, and other information. The "culture wars" arrived at the Smithsonian in 1991, with criticisms of The West as America, an exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 1994, Science in American Life, at theNational Museum of American History, provoked outcries from the scientific community for its critical look at American science. And the first script for the Enola Gay exhibit in the National Air and Space Museum was completed shortly before Adams's departure.[4]
Adams retired from the Smithsonian after ten years of service in 1994 and returned to academia as an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego. He received a Distinguished Service Award from the Society for American Archaeology in 1996 and continued his fieldwork and research in the archaeology and anthropology of the Middle East.[3]
Robert McCormick Adams has had a wide-ranging career spanning many fields. Geographically, his interests have involved extensive fieldwork in the Middle East, but have also included Mexico. With a broadly interdisciplinary approach, he has studied the course of development of urban civilizations over many millennia, and he has also dealt with the history of technology. Partly as an outgrowth of decades of experience in Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia, he has until recently been involved in studies of multiethnic violence under the joint sponsorship of the US National Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Over the course of his career Adams has emphasized the importance of social interaction andcultural ecology in the evolution of civilizations. His research has explored how cultural ecology can help explain the rise of civilizations and how cultures affect each other.[5][3]
Adams has proposed, based on his excavations inMesopotamia, that there was no single condition behind the complex societies of ancient cities and states; they were a product of numerous interrelated conditions, especially social organization and craft specialization. He was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1957,[6] a member of the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences in 1970,[7] and a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1974.[8] In 1988, he received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[9] Adams received theGold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement in 2002 from theArchaeological Institute of America.[3]
This article contains public domain text from the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
