H. Richard Adams

2011 Outstanding Alumni

Dr. H. Richard Adams, '66

As an exemplary biomedical scientist, an accomplished administrator, and dedicated teacher, Dr. H. Richard Adams, '66, has served higher education and the veterinary profession for over 40 years.

After serving in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets for four years and graduating with his DVM in 1966, Dr. Adams served as a research veterinarian and Captain in the United States Army at Fort Detrick, MD, for two years. He then received his PhD in pharmacology in 1972, from the University of Pittsburgh while also serving as research associate. In 1972, he became an assistant professor in the department of pharmacology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. In 1975, he was tenured and promoted to associate professor. In 1984, he moved to the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine where he become a professor and the chairman of the department of veterinary biomedical sciences.

While at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Dr. Adams held several different leadership positions including: professor of pharmacology at the UM Medical School, associate director of the Dalton Research Center, and interim dean and dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine from 1992-1998. In 1998, he answered the siren call of his alma mater and became the first Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. He is one of few who served as dean at two separate AAU institutions. He served as dean until 2009, and continued as professor of veterinary physiology and pharmacology until his retirement in 2010. He is now professor and dean emeritus at both the University of Missouri and Texas A&M University.

Throughout his career, he received several outstanding teacher and research awards, most notably the prestigious "Excellence in Education" award in pharmacology from the University of Missouri-Columbia Medical School four separate times. In 1997, the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association named him the Missouri Veterinarian of the Year. In 1999 the University of Missouri-Columbia named a new building in his honor, the "H. Richard Adams Multi-Purpose Conference Center." He was named an Honorary Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care and received the 2004 Distinguished Alumnus award from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Adams has been involved in many professional associations including the American Veterinary Medical Association, Sigma Xi, American Academy of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Shock Society, American Physiological Society, American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, Department of Defense Trauma Study Section, and American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. Dr. Adams' bibliography shows over 100 peer-reviewed publications, nearly 60 book chapters, and editorship of two editions of the textbook Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Brazos Animal Shelter of Brazos County, Texas.