Professor Adams, a leading contributor to metaphysics, the study of early modern philosophy (esp. Leibniz), philosophy of religion and ethics, did graduate work at Cornell, taught briefly at Michigan, and then spent most of his career at UCLA, before taking over the Department of Philosophy at Yale, then in receivership, circa 1992. He retired from Yale in 2004, and taught at Oxford where his wife, the philosopher and medievalist, Marilyn McCord Adams, had taken up a position. After Oxford, he spent time in the departments at North Carolina/Chapel Hill and Rutgers. Comments are open for remembrances from those who knew Professor Adams or for those who wish to comment on the significance of his work in any of the many areas he wrote in.
(As a rookie job seeker in 1992-93, I had an Eastern APA interview with UCLA. Robert Adams was in the room, and his poker face in response to my answers to questions was unforgettable--whether the answers were good or not so good, his expression did not change! I'll never forget it!)
