Ninth President of Ripon College, 1966-1985

Dr. Bernard S. Adams assumed his duties on October 10, 1966, at the age of 38. A graduate of Princeton University, Yale University, and the University of Pittsburgh, Adams' earlier experience included teaching English Literature and a wide range of administrative responsibilities at Princeton, Pittsburgh, and Oberlin College. In his years at Ripon, Dr. Adams continued the expansion of the physical plant (the Wehr Learning Resources Center addition to Lane Library was completed in September, 1974), and continued the modernization of the administration and the curriculum - overseeing the addition of off-campus, independent study, self-designed, and interdisciplinary programs. The flexibility of Ripon's educational program enabled it to effect the transition from an era of unprecedented growth in American higher education to an era of consolidation.