Edward Adams
Edward Beverle Adams was born on January 31, 1939, in New York City to Clarence and Ernesta Adams. Adams attended the New York City Public Schools and in 1952 integrated the privileged Horace Mann School. Adams graduated at age sixteen and entered New York University’s College of Engineering from which he received his B.S. degree in industrial engineering in 1959. Adams did graduate work in industrial engineering at Polytechnic University Brooklyn and attended graduate school at the University of Vermont, majoring in business administration. Adams was also an alumnus of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, from which he received the Stanford Sloan Executive Fellowship.
In 1964, Adams began his career at IBM as an assistant buyer in Burlington, Vermont, and later advanced to buying and procurement engineering manager. In 1967, he was promoted to Product Industrial Engineer Manager. Adams later became Administrative Assistant to the IBM Director of Manufacturing in Armonk, New York, a position he held for only one year before being named Information Record Division Operations Manager in Boulder, Colorado. In this new position, Adams was responsible for manufacturing and product engineering in magnetic media. Adams left this position in 1973, after receiving the Sloan Fellowship.
In 1975, Adams moved to Austin, Texas, to work in the IBM office as Product-System Manager; he held several leadership positions within IBM including Director of Site Operations, Regional Manager of Corporate Community Relations, and Public Affairs for the Western sites. Adams retired from IBM in 2000 to start his own consulting firm.
Adams was affiliated with various boards and organizations, such as the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Higher Education Planning Committee. In 1998, he and his wife, Mary Lou Adams, Ph.D., were honored by the Austin Project for their service to children and families. Adams was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Humane Letters by Houston-Tillotson College in 1989. In addition to his professional activities, Adams also held the positions of lector and Eucharistic lay minister at the St. James Episcopal Church.
Adams was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 7, 2007.
Adams passed away on April 8, 2008 at age 69.
A2007.053
Male

2/7/2007
Adams
Beverle
P.S. 184
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. School,
J.H.S. 43
Horace Mann School
New York University
University of Vermont
Stanford Graduate School of Business

Edward
New York
ADA09
Fall, Spring
New York
Northern California

Texas
1/31/1939
Austin
USA
Italian Food, Caribbean Food
4/8/2008
Business consultant and corporate executive Edward Adams (1939 - 2008 ) worked with IBM for over three decades, working his way up from assistant buyer to such high-ranking positions as Director of Site Operations, Regional Manager of Corporate Community Relations, and Public Affairs for the Western sites.
International Business Machines (IBM)
County Machine Company
U.S. Time Corporation
Green
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597677">Tape: 1 Slating of Edward Adams' interview</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597678">Tape: 1 Edward Adams lists his favorites</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597679">Tape: 1 Edward Adams describes his mother's family background</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597680">Tape: 1 Edward Adams describes how his parents came to the United States</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597681">Tape: 1 Edward Adams describes his father's family background</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597682">Tape: 1 Edward Adams talks about his home life</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597683">Tape: 1 Edward Adams remembers the Harlem neighborhood of New York City</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597684">Tape: 1 Edward Adams describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597685">Tape: 1 Edward Adams recalls his childhood friends</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597686">Tape: 1 Edward Adams remembers his elementary school experiences</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597687">Tape: 1 Edward Adams describes the community in New York City's Harlem neighborhood</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597688">Tape: 1 Edward Adams describes his parents' occupations and education</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597689">Tape: 1 Edward Adams recalls his junior high school experiences</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597690">Tape: 1 Edward Adams remembers the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, New York</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597691">Tape: 1 Edward Adams recalls his childhood activities</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597692">Tape: 1 Edward Adams talks about growing up in New York City during World War II</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597693">Tape: 1 Edward Adams describes his experiences of discrimination at the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, New York</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597694">Tape: 2 Edward Adams recalls his teachers at the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, New York</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597695">Tape: 2 Edward Adams recalls the athletics program at the Horace Mann School</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597696">Tape: 2 Edward Adams describes his early aspirations</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597697">Tape: 2 Edward Adams recalls his first year at the New York University College of Engineering</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597698">Tape: 2 Edward Adams describes the nightlife in New York City's Harlem neighborhood</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597699">Tape: 2 Edward Adams remembers visiting the cultural institutions of New York City</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597700">Tape: 2 Edward Adams remembers pledging to the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597701">Tape: 2 Edward Adams recalls his decision to study industrial engineering</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597702">Tape: 2 Edward Adams recalls his work as a camp counsellor at the YMCA</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597703">Tape: 2 Edward Adams talks about his early work experiences</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597704">Tape: 2 Edward Adams recalls his initial rejection from IBM</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597705">Tape: 3 Edward Adams recalls joining the staff of IBM</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597706">Tape: 3 Edward Adams talks about his wife</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597707">Tape: 3 Edward Adams recalls the mentorship of H. Lawrence McCrorey</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597708">Tape: 3 Edward Adams shares a story about his friend, Wylie Namar</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597709">Tape: 3 Edward Adams recalls his activism in Burlington, Vermont</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597710">Tape: 3 Edward Adams recalls his work to recruit black employees at IBM</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597711">Tape: 3 Edward Adams describes his role at the IBM facility in Burlington, Vermont</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597712">Tape: 3 Edward Adams recalls his position as an executive assistant at IBM</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597713">Tape: 3 Edward Adams recalls his business trips abroad with IBM</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597714">Tape: 3 Edward Adams talks about being drafted into the U.S. Army</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597715">Tape: 3 Edward Adams recalls his mentorship of black students in Boulder, Colorado</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597716">Tape: 3 Edward Adams talks about his children</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597717">Tape: 4 Edward Adams recalls his nomination to the Sloan Master's Program</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597718">Tape: 4 Edward Adams describes the Sloan Master's Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597719">Tape: 4 Edward Adams recalls his roles at the IBM facility in Austin, Texas</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597720">Tape: 4 Edward Adams describes his civic involvement in Austin, Texas, pt. 1</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597721">Tape: 4 Edward Adams describes his civic involvement in Austin, Texas, pt. 2</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597722">Tape: 4 Edward Adams recalls his position as manager of external programs for IBM</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597723">Tape: 4 Edward Adams describes his role as a corporate community relations manager</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597724">Tape: 4 Edward Adams describes his work for IBM in South Africa</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597725">Tape: 4 Edward Adams recalls his travels</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597726">Tape: 4 Edward Adams recalls his appointment to the Texas Workforce Investment Council</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597727">Tape: 5 Edward Adams describes his education reform activism in Texas</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597728">Tape: 5 Edward Adams describes his involvement with the Boule</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597729">Tape: 5 Edward Adams talks about his family</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597730">Tape: 5 Edward Adams recalls suffering a house fire</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597731">Tape: 5 Edward Adams describes his involvement at St. James' Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597732">Tape: 5 Edward Adams describes the congregation of St. James' Episcopal Church</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597733">Tape: 5 Edward Adams talks about his role as senior warden of St. James' Episcopal Church</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597734">Tape: 5 Edward Adams reflects upon his life</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597735">Tape: 5 Edward Adams shares a message to future generations, pt. 1</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597736">Tape: 5 Edward Adams shares a message to future generations, pt. 2</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/597737">Tape: 5 Edward Adams narrates his photographs</a>
1$1
1$4
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