Adams, John A. 1951–

(John Alfred Adams, Jr.)

PERSONAL:

Born April 24, 1951. Education: American-Nicaragua School, Managua, Nicaragua, graduate; Texas A&M University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Enterprise Florida, Inc., Ste. 1300, 390 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801. E-mail—jaa@eflorida.com.

CAREER:

Writer, historian, entrepreneur. National Bank of Texas, Laredo, former vice president and manager; Enterprise Florida, Inc., Orlando, president and CEO; Texas A&M University, Laredo, adjunct professor. GATT negotiations, delegate; World Trade Organization, advisor; U.S. Department of Commerce, chairman of Industry Sector Advisory Council for trade policy review.

WRITINGS:

We Are the Aggies: The Texas A&M University Association of Former Students, foreword by Richard ("Buck") Weirus, Texas A&M University Press (College Station, TX), 1979.

Damming the Colorado: The Rise of the Lower Colorado River Authority, 1933-1939, Texas A&M University Press (College Station, TX), 1990.

Softly Call the Muster: The Evolution of a Texas Aggie Tradition, foreword by Richard "Buck" Weirus, Texas A&M University (College Station, TX), 1994.

Mexican Banking and Investment in Transition, Quorum (Westport, CT), 1997.

Keepers of the Spirit: The Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, 1876-2001, foreword by Ray M. Bowen, Texas A&M University Press (College Station), 2001.

Bordering the Future: The Impact of Mexico on the United States, Praeger (Westport, CT), 2006.

(With Henry C. Dethloff) Texas Aggies Go to War: In Service of Their Country, foreword by George H.W. Bush, Texas A&M University Press (College Station, TX), 2006.

If Mahan Ran the Great Pacific War: An Analysis of World War II Naval Strategy, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

John A. Adams is an entrepreneur who has been active for several decades in international trade, focusing on Latin America with a special emphasis on emerging industrial and financial markets in Mexico. A consultant to both the U.S. Department of Commerce and the World Trade Organization, Adams has used this expertise in several of his books, including Mexican Banking and Investment in Transition and Bordering the Future: The Impact of Mexico on the United States. He also looks at the domestic impact of a major civil engineering project in his 1990 work Damming the Colorado: The Rise of the Lower Colorado River Authority, 1933-1939. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Adams has, additionally, penned a number of books dealing the development of the "Aggie" tradition, as well as the military contributions of A&M University alumni.

In his Damming the Colorado, Adams traces the origins and early construction phase of the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), known locally as "Texas's little TVA," whose initial task was flood control of the Red River. Adams intended to show in his study the positive effects of such reclamation, conservation, and hydroelectric projects of the New Deal. During this time, Adams argued, such resource management migrated from local control to federal management. Thomas D. Isern, writing in the Historian, observed that Adams "notes that the LCRA was an effective force for economic development because it went beyond simple work relief and stimulated industrial growth through provision of cheap power." Isern went on to note that Adams's book was "well crafted and laudable," but at the same time the reviewer found that it was hampered by "its limited intellectual range," failing, as Isern thought, to provide enough background analysis. Gregory Field, writing in the Business History Review, offered a similar mixed assessment: "Damming the Colorado will prove useful as a brief account of one episode in the history of the New Deal in the West and of the politics of water control. Scholars looking for more than a factual chronicle, however, most likely will be disappointed."

Adams turns to economics and Latin America in other works. His 1998 Mexican Banking and Investment in Transition "is one of the first works to examine the evolution of Mexican banking and finance up to and including the peso crash and deep recession of 1994-95," according to Miguel Ramirez, writing in the Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs. At the time of writing the book, Adams was himself a banker in Texas and had a thorough understanding of practices south of the border. Ramirez found, however, that Adams's own banking background "constrained the book's presentation to a status quo reporting of the economic events leading up to the peso crisis, as well as their future economic and political implications." Adams did not, in Ramirez's opinion, offer true analysis; he simply reported and listed. As an example of this, Ramirez noted: "When the author discusses the period known as Stabilizing Development (1954-1970), he does not delve into the political economy reasons for the abandonment of the previous strategy." In short, Ramirez observed that Mexican Banking and Investment in Transition was "a book that is best read as a set of nine self-contained essays that provide useful factual information and a fairly standard explanation of the economic and political events leading up to the 1994-95 peso crash and recession." Ramirez further added, "The nonspecialist or businessperson looking for a clear, nontechnical explanation of the overall structure of, and challenges facing, the Mexican banking system in the post-NAFTA era will not be disappointed."

Adams's 2006 title Bordering the Future focuses on Mexico's economic influence on the United States in the near future, examining areas such as "agriculture; migration; energy; the Mexican-Chinese relationship; … technology transfer, and trade corridors," as a contributor for Reference & Research Book News explained. Adams employs government, industry, and academic sources for his predictions. According to Kevin J. Middlebrook, writing in the Journal of Latin American Studies: "The book's principal contribution is to provide the general reader with an overview of recent economic developments and policy dilemmas in Mexico." Middlebrook further observed: "Adams is an enthusiastic advocate of open markets and free trade. This perspective encourages him to highlight some issues that other writers might overlook, such as the pressing transportation infrastructure needs along the Mexico-US border." Tony Payan, writing in the Political Science Quarterly, thought that "the value of the book consists in its descriptive nature." Specifically, Payan noted: "Number by number, acronym by acronym, year by year, statistic by statistic, the book weaves a scenario that sheds light on the major problems facing Mexico today."

Typical of Adams's works about Texas A&M University is his Keepers of the Spirit: The Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, 1876-2001. He "provides a detailed and positive examination of his alma mater," as Jennifer R. Green commented in the Journal of Southern History. Adams notes that the university has had a cadet corps since its founding in 1876. The author crafted his narrative history from media coverage, oral histories, archival sources, and interviews. Green felt that Adams "successfully details the history of the corps at the largest civilian military college," and further termed the work "well-researched and attractive."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Business History Review, winter, 1991, Gregory Field, review of Damming the Colorado: The Rise of the Lower Colorado River Authority, 1933-1939.

Choice, July 1, 2006, E.L. Whalen, review of Bordering the Future: The Impact of Mexico on the United States, p. 2041.

Ground Water, January 1, 1992, Kobina Atobrah, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 149.

Historian, fall, 1992, Thomas D. Isern, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 152.

Journal of American History, March, 1992, Andrew Gulliford, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 1501.

Journal of Economic History, June, 1992, Richard Lowitt, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 508.

Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, summer, 1998, Miguel Ramirez, review of Mexican Banking and Investment in Transition.

Journal of Latin American Studies, November, 2006, Kevin J. Middlebrook, review of Bordering the Future, p. 883.

Journal of Military History, July, 1994, review of Softly Call the Muster: The Evolution of a Texas Aggie Tradition, p. 562.

Journal of Southern History, February, 2003, Jennifer R. Green, review of Keepers of the Spirit: The Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, 1876-2001, p. 202.

Journal of the West, April, 1994, G. Richard Marzolf, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 100.

Library Journal, November 15, 1990, Gwen Gregory, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 78.

Pacific Historical Review, November, 1991, James E. Sherow, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 560.

Political Science Quarterly, winter, 2006, Tony Payan, review of Bordering the Future.

Public Historian, winter, 1993, review of Damming the Colorado.

Reference & Research Book News, August, 1997, review of Mexican Banking and Investment in Transition, p. 59; May, 2006, review of Bordering the Future.

Southwestern Historical Quarterly, January, 1992, L. Patrick Hughes, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 423; July, 2002, Ethan S. Rafuse, review of Keepers of the Spirit, p. 134.

Technology and Culture, July, 1992, Karen L. Smith, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 620.

Transnational Lawyer, fall, 1997, Michael P. Malloy, review of Mexican Banking and Investment in Transition.

Western Historical Quarterly, February, 1992, James R. Kimmel, review of Damming the Colorado, p. 84.

ONLINE

Area Development Online,http://www.areadevelopment.com/ (February 26, 2008), "A Conversation with John Adams, President and CEO of Enterprise Florida."

Greenwood Publishing Group Web site,http://www.greenwood.com/ (February 26, 2008), "John A. Adams, Jr."