Adams, Mike S. 1964-

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ADAMS, Mike S. 1964-

PERSONAL:

Born October 30, 1964, in Columbus, MS; married. Education: San Jacinto Community College, A.S.; Mississippi State University, B.A., M.A. (psychology), Ph.D. (criminology and sociology), 1993; studied law at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1998.

ADDRESSES:

Home—P.O. Box 319, Wrightsville, Beach, NC 28480. Office—Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403-3297. E-mail—adamsm@uncw.edu.

CAREER:

Educator and social commentator. University of North Carolina at Wilmington, professor of criminology, 1993—. Appeared on television news and talk shows, including Hannity and Colmes, O'Reilly Factor, and Scarborough Country.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Two Faculty Member of the Year awarda, University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

WRITINGS:

Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel: Confessions of a Conservative College Professor, Harbor House (Augusta, GA), 2004.

Author of columns for Townhall.com.

SIDELIGHTS:

With his first book, Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel: Confessions of a Conservative College Professor, Mike S. Adams points out what he perceives as hypocrisies and double standards in academia. Multiculturalism, gay rights, pro-choice, and diversity policies all provide fuel for his critique of the modern American college. Adams, a self-proclaimed underachiever as a high school student in Texas, went on to earn a doctorate in sociology and criminology. Joining the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Adams, who was once a liberal, soon became an outspoken critic of the diversity movement in colleges. In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he was also involved in a highly publicized free-speech controversy that led to his appearances on conservative television shows and provided him the opportunity to become a columnist for the Heritage Foundation's Web site, Townhall.com.

Library Journal contributor Jean Caspers described Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel as a series of "vignettes spotlighting Adams's perceptions of liberal hypocrisy." With his sudden notoriety, he was able to find a publisher for his book, which also documents the free-speech battle spawned by a fiery exchange of e-mails between Adams and a student regarding the September 11 attacks. This ultimately led to a charge of libel and the examination of Adams's e-mail by the university. The ensuing controversy highlighted the question of whether the e-mail of professors at public universities is public record or not, a battle Adams won. While Caspers found much of Adams's book "gleefully mean-spirited," she also called his fight for free speech rights "admirable."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chronicle of Higher Education, June 21, 2002, Andrea L. Foster, "Your E-mail Message to a Colleague Could Be Tomorrow's Headline," p. A31.

Library Journal, March 15, 2004, Jean Caspers, review of "Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel: Confessions of a Conservative College Professor," p. 86.