After graduating from high school at age fifteen and college at age eighteen, he taught math and English in south Texas high schools for seven years, while also coaching basketball and tennis and working on his M.A. degree in the summers. He received the M.A. in English and French in 1937 from the University of Texas, where he became a full-time student in 1940, working on his Ph.D. It was there that he met Pauline (Polly) Serger, whom he married in 1941. He served in the Navy for three years during World War II and completed his Ph.D. after the war. He taught at Ohio State University, Louisiana State University, and the University of Tennessee, retiring in 1985. Adams received numerous prestigious awards for his research and writing, but, according to family members (and quoted from the funeral program), "What Professor Adams was most proud of professionally...were the accomplishments of some of his 7,000 to 8,000 former students, many of whom went on to become renowned scholars, writers and teachers themselves."
After graduating from high school at age fifteen and college at age eighteen, he taught math and English in south Texas high schools for seven years, while also coaching basketball and tennis and working on his M.A. degree in the summers. He received the M.A. in English and French in 1937 from the University of Texas, where he became a full-time student in 1940, working on his Ph.D. It was there that he met Pauline (Polly) Serger, whom he married in 1941. He served in the Navy for three years during World War II and completed his Ph.D. after the war. He taught at Ohio State University, Louisiana State University, and the University of Tennessee, retiring in 1985. Adams received numerous prestigious awards for his research and writing, but, according to family members (and quoted from the funeral program), "What Professor Adams was most proud of professionally...were the accomplishments of some of his 7,000 to 8,000 former students, many of whom went on to become renowned scholars, writers and teachers themselves."
