Ralph Norman "Buzz" Adams (August 26, 1924 – November 28, 2002) was a distinguished bioanalytical chemist at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. The Adams Institute and Adams Professorship at the university are named after him.

Background and career

Adams was born in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

in 1924. He was drafted into the Army Air Corps in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, flying bombers in the Pacific theater. Upon his return, he studied chemistry at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, graduating in 1950, followed by Ph.D. studies at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

under N. Howell Furman. After two years on the faculty at Princeton, Adams became a professor at KU in 1955. Adams' research interests began studying solid electrodes and

electrochemical cell An electrochemical cell is a device that either generates electrical energy from chemical reactions in a so called galvanic cell, galvanic or voltaic cell, or induces chemical reactions (electrolysis) by applying external electrical energy in an ...

reactions. In later years, his research group changed direction and studied how electrical signaling in the brain underlie

neurological disorder Neurological disorders represent a complex array of medical conditions that fundamentally disrupt the functioning of the nervous system. These disorders affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerve networks, presenting unique diagnosis, treatment, and ...

s such as

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

Awards

* 1996 –

Oesper Award The Ralph and Helen Oesper Award or Oesper Award was first given in 1981 by the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society. The award recognizes "outstanding chemists for lifetime significant accomplishm ...

* 1963 –

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

* 1985 – Reilly Award * 1982 – Higuchi Award for Basic Science

References

1924 births Electrochemists Rutgers University alumni Princeton University University of Kansas 2002 deaths United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II {{Chemist-stub