Professor Adams received his Ph.D. in Economics from the State University of New York, Albany. Prior to OSU, he was an economist for the Illinois State Legislature and a Research Fellow in Economics and a Research Associate in Governmental Studies at the Brookings Institution.
He served as Interim Director of OSU’s School of Public Policy and Management and as Director of the School’s Doctoral Studies Program. His teaching covered the full complement of economics courses in the School’s MPA program and the core economics seminar in the School’s doctoral program.
His research has ranged over a variety of applied public economics and policy topics including fiscal federalism, welfare reform, child support enforcement, public service employment, urban development, and citizen engagement in local self government. He has published in various academic journals including the Journal of Public Policy and Management, Public Administration and Development, Urban Affairs Quarterly/Review, Social Service Review, Political Science Quarterly, Journal of Human Resources, and Scoio-Economic Planning Sciences. He has authored and co-authored individual book chapters and co-authored two books, Revenue Sharing: The Second Round (Brookings) and Public Service Employment: The Experience of a Decade (Upjohn Institute).
He has consulted with various public and not-for-profit agencies including the US State Department, the Open Society Institute of Budapest/OECD, the Government of Belize/USAID, the Center for Local Autonomy, Seoul, Korea, the Federal Employment Services of Russia/World Bank, the US Department of Health and Human Services/ASPE, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development, the Brookings Institution, and Princeton University’s Center of Urban and Regional Analysis.
His professional service includes chairing NASPAA’s Doctoral Studies Committee and APPAM’s Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award Committee, serving as a discussant for the annual NTA Outstanding Dissertation Award, and serving on advisory committees for various organizations including the Urban Institute, GAO, HUD, HHS, and the OHIO Child Support Advisory Committee. At OSU he has served on and chaired a variety of university committees including the Battelle Endowment and the Fulbright Selection committees.
