Robert McCormick Adams Jr., former Director of the Oriental Institute, Provost of the University of Chicago, and the Ninth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, died on January 27, 2018 in Chula Vista, CA at the age of 91. Professor Adams was a towering figure of Near Eastern Archaeology and a pioneer of landscape archaeology methods, who left a deep imprint on the Oriental Institute and the University of Chicago. He received both his bachelor and doctorate degrees from the University of Chicago, and served on the faculty of the Oriental Institute, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and Anthropology from 1955 to 1984. During that time, he was named the Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor (1975-1984), served as Director of the Oriental Institute (1962-1968 and 1981-1983) and Dean of the Division of Social Sciences (1970-1974), before being appointed Provost (1982-1984). Professor Adams left the University of Chicago to become the ninth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute (1984-1994). He has been remembered by friends and colleagues from several institutions in the articles below:
https://siarchives.si.edu/history/robert-mccormick-adams
https://torch.si.edu/2018/01/in-memoriam-robert-mccormick-adams/
A Festschrift for Professor Adams was edited by Elizabeth C. Stone and published jointly with the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology in 2007:
Elizabeth C. Stone (ed.). Settlement and Society: Essays Dedicated to Robert McCormick Adams. 2007
