{{Short description|American academic administrator (1948–2026)}} {{For|other people called Michael Adams|Michael Adams (disambiguation)}} {{Good article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Michael F. Adams | image = Michael F. Adams 2013 cropped.jpg | caption = Adams in 2013 | order = | title = 21st President of the University of Georgia | term_start = September 1, 1997 | term_end = June 30, 2013 | predecessor = Charles Boynton Knapp | successor = Jere Morehead | title1 = 19th President of Centre College | term_start1 = April 3, 1989 | term_end1 = June 1997 | predecessor1 = Richard L. Morrill | successor1 = John A. Roush | birth_date = {{birth date|1948|3|25}} | birth_place = Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2026|1|25|1948|3|25}} | death_place = | party = Republican | spouse = {{Marriage|Mary Lynn Ethridge|June 7, 1969}} | education = David Lipscomb College (BA)<br />Ohio State University (MA, PhD) }}
'''Michael Fred Adams''' (March 25, 1948 – January 25, 2026) was an American political staffer, educator, and academic administrator.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Adams began his career as a staffer for Senate minority leader Howard Baker, including three years as Baker's chief of staff. After an unsuccessful run for the House of Representatives in 1980, he worked as a senior advisor to Governor of Tennessee Lamar Alexander. His first foray into academia was as a professor and the vice president for university affairs at Pepperdine University, where he remained until 1989. That year, he took the presidency of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, which he held until 1997. At Centre, he added several degree programs, completed a $60 million fundraiser, renovated and improved many buildings on campus, and tripled the school's endowment. He applied for the presidency of the University of Georgia (UGA) on the last day to apply and was ultimately selected for the job. He was announced as UGA's twenty-first president in June 1997 and took office that September.
Adams's presidency at UGA was not without controversy. Shortly into his term, he reduced the number of senior vice presidents from seven to three and his own expenses prompted an audit. His disagreement with athletic director Vince Dooley and Adams's subsequent refusal to extend Dooley's contract was unpopular among many. A poll among faculty from the largest of the university's colleges also showed that a majority of that college's faculty lacked confidence in his administration. His presidency saw significant growth for the university, however; enrollment grew to 35,000 students and the endowment nearly tripled. Five new colleges were created, and UGA athletics won nineteen national championships and saw their revenue nearly quadruple. He resigned as UGA president in May 2012 and left office in July 2013. He was later named chancellor at Pepperdine, a position he held from August 2015 to July 2018.
==Early life and education== Michael Fred Adams<ref>{{cite web|title=Commencement Summer 1973|url=https://registrar.osu.edu/staff/commence_bulletins/su73_commence.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216101611/https://registrar.osu.edu/staff/commence_bulletins/su73_commence.pdf|archive-date=December 16, 2016|publisher=Ohio State University|date=1973|page=2|url-status=dead}}</ref> was born on March 25, 1948, in Montgomery, Alabama,<ref name="about">{{cite web|url=http://www.uga.edu/gm/artman/publish/0709adams1.html |title=About Michael F. Adams |publisher=University of Georgia |accessdate=October 11, 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529015950/http://www.uga.edu/gm/artman/publish/0709adams1.html |archivedate=May 29, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> to Jean and Hubert Adams.<ref name="named-uga" /> He was raised Christian as a member of the Church of Christ.{{sfn|Weston|2019|page=119}} In his youth, he moved with his family to Atlanta, Albany, and Macon, Georgia, and then to Chattanooga, Tennessee, following his father's work at Kraft Foods Inc..<ref name="about" /> He graduated from Chattanooga High School.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=35}}
Adams was the first member of his family to attend college.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=36}} He attended David Lipscomb College—now Lipscomb University—for his undergraduate studies, graduating ''magna cum laude'' with a degree in speech and history in 1970.<ref name="cc" /><ref name="chancellor" /> Afterward, he earned a Master of Arts in communication research methodologies and a Doctorate in communications, both with a concentration in educational administration, from Ohio State University in 1971 and 1973, respectively.<ref name="cc" /><ref name="named-uga" /> After graduating from Ohio State, where he was named a University Fellow, he completed a postdoc at Oxford University.<ref name="cc" />
==Career== ===Political work and Pepperdine, 1974–1988=== Adams's first career experience was in politics; he worked as a staffer for Howard Baker, the Senate minority leader, from 1974 to 1979. The last three years of his time working for Baker was as his chief of staff.<ref name="cc" /> Adams was the Republican nominee for Congress in Tennessee's 5th congressional district but lost the general election to the incumbent Democratic representative Bill Boner.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 1980 |url=https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf |website=Clerk of the United States House of Representatives |publisher=United States Government Publishing Office |access-date=August 25, 2024 |page=58 |date=April 15, 1981 |archive-date=January 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102104410/https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1980 to 1982, Adams was a senior advisor to Lamar Alexander, then the governor of Tennessee,<ref name="cc" /> specifically as the deputy commissioner of economic and community development.<ref name="about" />
Adams left Alexander's staff to accept a position as the vice president for university affairs at Pepperdine University. During this time, he was also a member of the Pepperdine faculty as a professor of political communication.<ref name="cc" />
===Centre College, 1989–1997=== thumb|right|Horky House ''(pictured in 2021)'' was converted during Adams's presidency at Centre to house the admissions office.<ref name="cc" />
Adams was named the nineteenth president of Centre College, in Danville, Kentucky, in December 1988,<ref name="cc">{{cite web |title=Michael F. Adams, Centre College President (1988–1997) |url=https://sc.centre.edu/ency/a/adams.html |website=CentreCyclopedia |publisher=Centre College |access-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-date=October 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008230945/https://sc.centre.edu/ency/a/adams.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and he took office on April 3, 1989.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Centre president eases into job |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-advocate-messenger/167855282/ |access-date=March 12, 2025 |work=The Advocate-Messenger |date=April 6, 1989 |location=Danville, Kentucky |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> He was Centre's first non-Presbyterian president.{{sfn|Weston|2019|page=119}}
Adams expanded and improved Centre's campus and offerings both in Kentucky and abroad. Old Centre, the Carnegie Library, Horky House, and Combs Warehouse underwent renovation during his tenure.<ref name="cc" /> Greek Row was established; chapter houses were built for sororities for the first time and fraternities received newly built houses the following year.{{sfn|Weston|2019|page=122}} The former fraternity houses were converted into new dormitory buildings, named after Centre alumni and important figures in the history of the college, including Cooper Hall (for U.S. Senator John Sherman Cooper), Vinson Hall (for Chief Justice Fred Vinson), Ganfield Hall (for Centre President William Arthur Ganfield), and Stevenson Hall (for U.S. Vice President Adlai Stevenson I).{{sfn|Weston|2019|page=122}} Study abroad programs in London, Strasbourg, and Mérida were also established.{{sfn|Weston|2019|page=120}} The college added multiple degree offerings, including anthropology and sociology, computer science, and classics.<ref name="cc" /> Fundraising was also a major emphasis of Adams's administration; Centre received multiple large research initiative grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Science Foundation, respectively, and outraised a $60 million goal as part of their Front and Centre fundraising campaign. Over Adams's tenure as president, Centre's endowment tripled to a total in excess of $120 million. Additionally, Centre became the top college in the country by the percentage of its alumni to donate.<ref name="named-uga" />
The John C. Young Honors Program, named in honor of Centre's fourth president John C. Young, was established in 1989 to provide support for a group of seniors in research projects of their choice.{{sfn|Weston|2019|page=121}} Access to the Internet was first established on campus at Centre in 1993,{{sfn|Weston|2019|page=120}} the same year that the faculty split from the College Council, which had previously comprised the whole faculty and a selection of students and staff, to become its own separate body.{{sfn|Weston|2019|pages=121–122}}
Adams attracted some disdain from the faculty at Centre after he made changes to the faculty handbook, a move that violated college policy. As a result, a selection of faculty began what the historian Rich Whitt described as a "quiet revolt". Several Centre professors reported that tension between faculty and administration grew significantly under Adams.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=39}}
While president of Centre, Adams held numerous leadership roles at various organizations. These included periods as a vice chair on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Presidents Commission, the Board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Board of the American Council on Education, the Board of the Kentucky Center for Public Issues, Leadership Kentucky, and the Executive Council of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.<ref name="cc" /> He helped to reorganize, and was the first president of, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, of which Centre was a member.<ref>{{cite journal |title=History of the SCAC |url=https://scacsports.com/information/history |website=Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference |access-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-date=June 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617231607/https://scacsports.com/information/history |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="named-uga" />
===University of Georgia, 1997–2013=== [[File:Rhodes Hall UGA Health Sciences Campus June 2014.jpeg|thumb|right|Rhodes Hall ''(pictured in 2014)'' housed the administrative offices of the new UGA College of Public Health beginning in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pharr |first1=Kathy |title=Health Sciences Quarterly Update – May 2013 |url=https://news.uga.edu/health-sciences-quarterly-update-may-2013/ |website=UGA Today |publisher=University of Georgia |access-date=October 8, 2024 |date=May 8, 2013 |archive-date=October 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008230945/https://news.uga.edu/health-sciences-quarterly-update-may-2013/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
Adams applied for the presidency at the University of Georgia (UGA), left vacant by the resignation of Chuck Knapp in 1996.<ref>{{cite web |title=President's Resignation of University of Georgia-Knapp, 1996 |url=https://uwg.galileo.usg.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/69166 |website=University of West Georgia Special Collections |publisher=University System of Georgia |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=1996}}</ref><ref name="about" /> He was one of three finalists for the position, along with University of Michigan vice president Bernie Machen and North Carolina State University vice provost Debra W. Stewart.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=33}} Ultimately, he was selected, and he was announced as UGA's incoming president on June 11, 1997,<ref name="named-uga" /> which surprised many UGA faculty and students due to Adams's lack of experience in leadership at flagship universities.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=34}} He resigned from Centre effective around that same time<ref name="cc" /> and took office as UGA's twenty-first president on September 1, 1997.<ref name="named-uga">{{cite web |title=Adams named University of Georgia president |url=https://www.usg.edu/news/release/adams_named_university_of_georgia_president |website=University System of Georgia |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=June 11, 1997 |archive-date=October 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008230947/https://www.usg.edu/news/release/adams_named_university_of_georgia_president |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=35}} At Georgia, his starting annual salary was $177,000,<ref name="named-uga"/> though he was making upwards of $1 million by the time of his retirement.<ref>{{cite web |title=Former Ohio State president tops highest-paid list |url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/nation-world/2014/05/18/former-ohio-state-president-tops/10653340007/ |website=Akron Beacon Journal |access-date=August 26, 2024 |date=May 18, 2014 |archive-date=August 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827001320/https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/nation-world/2014/05/18/former-ohio-state-president-tops/10653340007/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Shortly into his tenure at Georgia, Adams shrank the school's staff of seven senior vice presidents to three, creating a provost position that would be filled by Karen Holbrook, formerly vice provost for research at University of Florida.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=41}} In 2002, Adams announced to the UGA Foundation that he had a job offer for the presidency of Ohio State University—with a supposed salary of between $850,000 and $1,000,000—leading the Foundation to offer him a raise.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=94}} After reading published reports of the alleged offer James Patterson, chair of Ohio State's presidential search committee, "flatly denied" that Adams was offered the position.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|pages=95–96}}
In July 2003, the university underwent an audit from Deloitte & Touche to investigate issues including Adams's expenses. Those concerning travel and payments to his wife were put under particular scrutiny.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|pages=91–92}} These expenses included a trip to watch George W. Bush's inauguration, a commencement reception for a graduating law school class which included Adams's son,{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=92}} and a trip to attend the funeral of Robert L. McLeod, who had been president of Centre from 1938 to 1945.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=93}} Auditors noted that Adams later reimbursed the foundation for some of these expenses.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=93}} Disagreement between Adams and longtime athletic director and former football coach Vince Dooley led to Dooley's retirement after his contract was not renewed, a move that drew ire from many.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Newberry |first1=Paul |title=Vince Dooley, longtime Georgia football coach, dies at 90 |url=https://apnews.com/article/college-football-sports-georgia-athens-297d853db7f840dabd45a37f2fd6ad65 |website=Associated Press |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=October 29, 2022 |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415025212/https://apnews.com/article/college-football-sports-georgia-athens-297d853db7f840dabd45a37f2fd6ad65 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="dispute">{{cite web |last1=Markman |first1=Ross |title=University's faculty members ready to 'move forward' |url=http://onlineathens.com/stories/080904/uga_20040809023.shtml |website=Athens Banner-Herald |access-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071004214545/http://onlineathens.com/stories/080904/uga_20040809023.shtml |archive-date=October 4, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In March 2004, in the wake of these scandals, the faculty senate of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the largest college in the University of Georgia, passed a vote of "no confidence" in Adams. The senate's statement argued for an "erosion in excellence" during his tenure. Around this time, the UGA Foundation announced that it would no longer provide Adams with additional annual compensation of over $300,000, but would instead donate to the UGA general fund.<ref name="dispute" /> In July 2010, athletic director Damon Evans, whom Adams hired to replace Dooley, was arrested for DUI and resigned as a result.<ref>{{cite web |title=Damon Evans out as UGA athletic director |url=http://www.wsbtv.com/news/24137668/detail.html |website=WSB-TV |access-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706235612/http://www.wsbtv.com/news/24137668/detail.html |archive-date=July 6, 2010 |date=July 4, 2010}}</ref> In spite of the scandals that took place within the Georgia athletic department during Adams's tenure, which also included NCAA violations for academic fraud that took place under the watch of head men's basketball coach Jim Harrick,<ref name="abh-marc" /> UGA teams won nineteen national championships and athletic department revenue grew from $25.7 million to a projected $92.1 million.<ref name="abh-marc">{{cite web |last1=Weiszer |first1=Marc |title=Michael Adams leaves presidency with big imprint on UGA sports |url=https://www.onlineathens.com/article/20130518/SPORTS/305189927 |website=Athens Banner-Herald |access-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018013542/https://www.onlineathens.com/article/20130518/SPORTS/305189927 |archive-date=October 18, 2019 |date=May 18, 2013}}</ref>
During Adams's presidency, UGA established five new colleges: the School of Public and International Affairs and the College of Environment & Design in 2001, the College of Public Health in 2005, the Odum School of Ecology in 2007, and the College of Engineering in 2012.<ref name="ugatoday">{{cite web |last1=Jackson |first1=Tom |title=UGA President Adams announces plans to step down next year |url=https://news.uga.edu/uga-president-adams-announces-plans-to-step-down-next-year/ |website=UGA Today |publisher=University of Georgia |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=May 3, 2012 |archive-date=October 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002151157/https://news.uga.edu/uga-president-adams-announces-plans-to-step-down-next-year/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This was the conclusion of a plan that initially included the dissolution of the Grady College of Journalism, though protest from faculty and students ultimately forced Adams to scrap that portion of the project.{{sfn|Whitt|2011|page=42}} Adams was named vice president of the executive committee of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) for the 2003–2004 academic year under committee president John A. White, the chancellor of the University of Arkansas. Thereafter, Adams served for two years as the committee's president in his own right.<ref name="sec-pres">{{cite web |title=SEC Executive Committee Members |url=https://www.secsports.com/sec-executivecommittee |website=Southeastern Conference |access-date=August 25, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=UGA President Michael F. Adams to serve as president of SEC |url=https://news.uga.edu/040630adamssec/ |website=UGA Today |publisher=University of Georgia |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=June 30, 2004 |archive-date=October 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008230954/https://news.uga.edu/040630adamssec/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After the end of his term in 2006,<ref name="sec-pres" /> he was elected to a two-year term as the chairman of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Executive Committee.<ref>{{cite web |title=UGA President Michael F. Adams elected chair of NCAA Executive Committee |url=https://news.uga.edu/uga-president-michael-f-adams-elected-chair-of-ncaa-executive-committee/ |website=UGA Today |publisher=University of Georgia |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=April 27, 2007 |archive-date=October 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008231041/https://news.uga.edu/uga-president-michael-f-adams-elected-chair-of-ncaa-executive-committee/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During this time, he attracted attention by publicly announcing his support for an eight-team playoff championship system for college football.<ref name="redandblack">{{cite web |last1=Ernst |first1=Megan |title=After Adams: championships, controversies and change during 16 years as president |url=https://www.redandblack.com/sports/after-adams-championships-controversies-and-change-during-years-as-president/article_dca8723c-9741-11e2-bfcd-0019bb30f31a.html |website=The Red & Black |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=March 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Georgia president: Schools need to regain control of postseason |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=3186232 |website=ESPN |access-date=October 10, 2024 |date=January 8, 2008}}</ref>
During Adams's presidency, UGA's enrollment grew from just under 30,000 to about 35,000 and the school raised more money than it had in its history up to that point. UGA's endowment also grew, from $250 million to $745 million, and it more than doubled its number of endowed professorships to 219. In Adams's final ten years, the university was ranked in the top twenty public research universities by ''U.S. News & World Report'' eight times.<ref name="ugatoday" /> Adams announced his resignation as UGA president on May 3, 2012, set to be effective June 30, 2013.<ref name="resign-uga">{{cite web |last1=Diamond |first1=Laura |title=Adams to retire: "My love will always be deep for the University of Georgia" |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/adams-to-retire-my-love-will-always-be-deep-for-th/nQTXX/ |website=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |access-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217145432/https://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/adams-to-retire-my-love-will-always-be-deep-for-th/nQTXX/ |archive-date=December 17, 2014 |date=May 3, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He was succeeded by UGA provost Jere Morehead.<ref name="abh-marc" /> Upon departing Georgia, Adams and his wife continued to maintain a residence in Athens.<ref name="abh">{{cite web |last1=Shearer |first1=Lee |title=Former UGA president Michael Adams takes job at California's Pepperdine |url=https://www.onlineathens.com/story/news/local/2015/06/11/former-uga-president-michael-adams-takes-job-californias-pepperdine/15491943007/ |website=Athens Banner-Herald |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=June 11, 2015}}</ref> He was designated president ''emeritus'' and Regents' professor by the university upon leaving office.<ref name="chancellor" />
===Post-presidency, 2013–2018=== After leaving Georgia, Adams returned to Pepperdine for a three-year term as the university's chancellor from August 1, 2015, to July 31, 2018.<ref name="abh" /><ref name="chancellor">{{cite web |last1=Darakjian |first1=Gareen |title=Chancellor Michael F. Adams to conclude three-year appointment |url=https://www.pepperdine.edu/newsroom/articles/chancellor-michael-f-adams-conclude-three-year-appointment.htm |website=Pepperdine University |access-date=August 25, 2024 |date=June 7, 2018 |archive-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825214958/https://www.pepperdine.edu/newsroom/articles/chancellor-michael-f-adams-conclude-three-year-appointment.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> He was the second-ranking member of the school's administration and worked directly for university president Andrew K. Benton, whom Adams first hired during his first stint at Pepperdine.<ref name="abh" />
==Personal life and death== Adams married Mary Lynn Ethridge on June 7, 1969, in Union City, Tennessee,<ref>{{cite web |title=Mr. Michael Fred Adams in the U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s–current |url=https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/discoveryui-content/view/65352522:62116 |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 25, 2024 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=The Montgomery Advertiser}}</ref> and they had two children.<ref name="chancellor" /><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.11alive.com/article/sports/college/georgia-bulldogs/former-university-of-georgia-president-michael-adams-dead-known-for-major-campus-expansion/85-a12f3474-84c3-4c12-a255-93f5b867d791|title = Former University of Georgia president Michael Adams, known for sweeping campus expansion, dies|last = Jackson|first = Reeves|date = January 25, 2026|accessdate = January 25, 2026|work = WXIA}}</ref> He died on January 25, 2026, at the age of 77.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/01/26/former-uga-president-michael-adams-dies-77-university-says/|title = Former UGA President Michael Adams dies at 77, university says|website = WGCL-TV|date = January 25, 2026|accessdate = January 25, 2026}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== * {{Cite book |last=Weston |first=William J. |year=2019 |title=Centre College: A Bicentennial History |publication-place=Danville, Kentucky |publisher=Centre College |isbn=978-1-6943-5863-9 |oclc=1142930784}} * {{Cite book |last=Whitt |first=Rich |year=2011 |title=Behind the Hedges: Big Money and Power Politics at the University of Georgia |publication-place=Montgomery, Alabama |publisher=NewSouth Books |isbn=978-1-58838-206-1 |oclc=771056631}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name| 7843823}}
{{Navboxes top |title = Offices and distinctions }} {{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box | before=Richard L. Morrill | title=President of Centre College | years=April 3, 1989 — June 1997 | after=John A. Roush }} {{succession box | before=Charles Boynton Knapp | title=President of the University of Georgia | years=September 1, 1997 — June 30, 2013 | after=Jere Morehead }} {{succession box | before=Charles B. Runnels | title=Chancellor of Pepperdine University | years=August 1, 2015 — July 31, 2018 | after=Sara Young Jackson }} {{s-other}} {{succession box | before=John Palms<br><small>as President of the University of South Carolina</small> | title=Vice President of the Southeastern Conference Executive Committee | years=July 1, 2003 — June 30, 2004 | after=Andrew Sorensen<br><small>as President of the University of South Carolina</small> }} {{succession box | before=John A. White<br><small>as Chancellor of the University of Arkansas</small> | title=President of the Southeastern Conference Executive Committee | years=July 1, 2004 — June 30, 2006 | after=Andrew Sorensen<br><small>as President of the University of South Carolina</small> }} {{succession box | before=Walter Harrison<br><small>as President of the University of Hartford</small> | title=Chairman of the NCAA Executive Committee | years=2007 — 2009 | after=Ed Ray<br><small>as President of Oregon State University</small> }} {{s-end}} {{navboxes bottom}} {{University of Georgia leaders}} {{Centre College presidents}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Michael F.}} Category:1948 births Category:2026 deaths Category:American members of the Churches of Christ Category:Lipscomb University alumni Category:Ohio State University faculty Category:Ohio State University School of Communication alumni Category:People from Athens, Georgia Category:People from Danville, Kentucky Category:People from Montgomery, Alabama Category:Pepperdine University faculty Category:Presidents of Centre College Category:Presidents of the University of Georgia Category:Tennessee Republicans