Dr. Ralph "Buzz" Adams

After completing his professional education at Princeton University and then serving as an instructor there for two years after graduation, Dr. Adams began teaching and conducting research at KU in 1955 with a focus on organic electrochemistry. Later, his work shifted to organic electrodes and related concepts, which earned him recognition as a J.S. Guggenheim Fellow in Zurich, Switzerland in 1964. After receiving the title of University Distinguished Professor in 1965, his work swayed into neuroscience, further developing research into schizophrenia. For his sabbatical in 1970, he trained in the Department of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine, eventually leading to his appointment as Professor of Neurobehavioral Sciences at the Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka, KS, from 1978 to 1982. Dr. Adams retired from teaching in 1992, and passed away in 2002, at the age of 78. His work accelerated the field of electrochemistry and neuroscience forward by decades, and left behind a never-ending impact, culminating in the establishment of the KU Ralph N. Adams Institute for Bioanalytical Chemistry, which carries on his achievements and legacy.