William James Adams Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Emeritus Professor of Economics Emeritus
About
Born in New York City and raised in East Lansing, Michigan, Jim Adams earned three degrees in economics (AB summa cum laude, AM, and PhD) from Harvard University. Since 1973, he has taught at the University of Michigan, where his current title is Shorey Peterson Professorship in Industrial Organization, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Economics, and Professor in Honors in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA).
Adams has won numerous prizes for his teaching, including the Amoco Foundation Award and the Golden Apple Award. The University of Michigan nominated him in 2007 for the U.S. Professors of the Year Award (sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Learning) and then in 2008 for the Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Award (sponsored by the Presidents Council of the State Universities of Michigan).
In his research, Adams has ranged broadly, from public policies toward business in the United States to economic integration in Europe. His monograph, Restructuring the French Economy: Government and the Rise of Market Competition since World War II, is used by economists, historians, and political scientists on both sides of the Atlantic.
Adams has served the University of Michigan in numerous capacities, including as Director of the Center for West European Studies, as Associate Dean of LSA for Faculty Affairs, as an elected member of the LSA Executive Committee, and as Chair of the Economics Department.
Outside the University of Michigan, he has held visiting professorships at Harvard, Aix-Marseille, Paris I, Paris-Dauphine, the European University Institute, and Basel. He has been affiliated with the Brookings Institution in Washington, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and the Jean Monnet Foundation in Switzerland.
He has advised the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Ambassador to France, and several foreign policy departments of the U.S. government. In 2007, he delivered the Guido Carli Lecture at the Libera Università Internationale degli Studi Sociali in Rome.
The father of two grown sons, Jim Adams is married to a Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Affiliation(s)
- Professor, LSA Honors Program
Award(s)
- Golden Apple Award (best teacher at the University of Michigan)
- Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship (outstanding undergraduate teaching, University of Michigan)
Research Area(s)
- Industrial Organization
- The European Economy
