In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Chairman William Adams will give a public address on “The Common Good and NEH at 50.” A reception will follow the event.
William Adams is the tenth chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Adams, president of Colby College in Waterville, Maine from 2000 until his retirement on June 30, 2014, is a committed advocate for liberal arts education and brings to the Endowment a long record of leadership in higher education and the humanities.
A native of Birmingham, Michigan, and son of an auto industry executive, Adams earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Colorado College and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Cruz History of Consciousness Program. He studied in France as a Fulbright Scholar before beginning his career in higher education with appointments to teach political philosophy at Santa Clara University in California and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He went on to coordinate the Great Works in Western Culture program at Stanford University and to serve as vice president and Secretary of Wesleyan University. He became president of Bucknell University in 1995 and president of Colby College in 2000.
Learn more about William Adams at the NEH's website: http://www.neh.gov/about/chairman.
This event is co-sponsored by IPRH, the Office of the Provost, and the Spurlock Museum.
Thanks to the IPRH listserv for this information item.
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