Description:
Thomas T. Adams grew up in Towaco, New Jersey, a rural community in Morris County, where his family settled after leaving Brooklyn. His father was a title insurance investigator and draftsman and his mother was a volunteer librarian, newspaper correspondent and active local political figure. Adams attended Boonton High School.
After graduating, Adams worked at the Irving Trust Company at 1 Wall Street in New York City before enrolling in Rutgers University's College of Agriculture, where he pursued forestry while also completing extensive coursework in chemistry and biological sciences. At Rutgers, he participated in ROTC and the Scarlet Rifles drill unit. Upon graduation in 1943, he received a commission as a second lieutenant and entered active duty.
Adams trained first at Camp Croft, South Carolina, then, attended motor transport school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He later served as a motor transport officer with the 100th Infantry Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he organized driver and mechanic training programs. Promoted quickly to first lieutenant, he played a key logistical role in preparing a newly formed division.
After developing asthma and undergoing treatment at Oliver General Hospital in Augusta, Georgia, he was deemed unfit for overseas service and reassigned to Camp Croft, where he held several administrative positions, including battalion and regimental adjutant with the 27th Training Battalion. In this role, he managed personnel records, issued orders, and oversaw training operations for infantry replacements.
Following his discharge in 1946, Adams used the GI Bill to attend Harvard Business School, earning an MBA. He went on to build a career in corporate management, working for Atlantic Refining Company, Ford Motor Company, and later in construction and banking sectors. He eventually transitioned into academia as an associate dean at the University of Michigan.