Name: William Leigh Adams
Title: Part-time lecturer at UTRGV. Previously, served as a professor at legacy institution University of Texas at Brownsville since 1989.
“I was here for 27 years and then in 2015 I retired, and then last year I taught a year in China and I’ve come back and now I’m teaching part-time here.”
Department: History
Degree: Doctorate in history (1975) from the University of North Dakota; master’s degree in political science (1979), State University of New York at Binghamton; master’s in European history (1973), University of North Dakota; and a bachelor’s in history (1966), Central State University of New York College.
Hometown: “Brownsville. I was born in New London, Conn., but this is home now.”
Military service: U.S. Navy lieutenant, 1967-1972. “I served in the U.S. Navy for six years. I would like to say I was a naval officer for six years and I was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal. You know the supercarriers that they’ve been taking apart out at the breaking yards at the port? There was one a few years ago, they brought in and ripped it apart, sold it for scrap metal. And then I served in a NATO command in Lisbon, Portugal.”
What made you pursue teaching? “I always had an interest in it. My mother was a history teacher, but I’ve always been interested in history.”
What would you say most motivates you to do what you do? “Well, my love for my subject, but also being around young people. I enjoy young people. It keeps you young being around them.”
What brought you to UTRGV? “Well, I had taught for 14 years with the Marist Brother monks, that’s a Catholic order, and I had taught in Australia, mainly in a place called the Solomon Islands, but when I left Australia I looked for a Marist Brothers school and Saint Joseph Academy in Brownsville was one. So, I taught there and then the second year, I got a job here at the university.”
What do you do for your students? “Well, I want them to know the topic that I’m teaching. If I’m teaching American military history, I want them to know our military history. If I’m teaching Asian history, I want them to learn the basics about Asian history.”
What classes do you currently teach? “This semester, I have American military history. I have world history since 1650.”
Have you written a book, and if so, what inspired you? “Yeah, I’ve written five books.”
–“Portrait of a Border City: Brownsville, Texas” (Eakin Press, 1997).
Co-written by Anthony K. Knopp
–“Valley Vets: Texan World War II Veterans of the Lower Rio Grande Valley” (Eakin Press, 1999)
–“Valley Vets II: Korean and Vietnam Veterans of the Lower Rio Grande Valley” (Eakin Press, 2004)
–“Remembering Xinxiang (China)” (Nortex Press, 2001)
–“Night Song and other True Tales of the Orient” (Nortex Press, 2010)
“I wanted to write about the cities I’ve lived in. I’ve lived in Brownsville for many years, and I love Xinxiang, China, so I wanted to write about those. I wrote ‘Night Song’ and I spent a year sabbatical traveling around East Asia. I spent a month in different, in 12 different countries, and I wrote a story about each. … And I look for interesting people in different countries to write about their lives, find people that normally, you know, tourists would never meet. Like, one of the things I did, I moved constantly with their tribe. Wherever I went, I looked for something different, unusual that common travelers don’t see.”
What do you like to do on your free time? “In my free time currently, I like to take care of my lawn and I put together ship models. And I do woodworking. I’ve been doing it for about 15 years. In my home, I’ve got sort of a museum for my ship models. The one that I’m working on now will probably take two years, you know. Some of them are bigger than me.”
Do you sell them? “No, no, I just keep them in my little museum, you know. I used to collect shells. You know, go snorkeling, and I did that for about 40 years in different parts of the world, almost every ocean I’ve been to, to snorkel and, you know, I have quite a collection of these seashells that I’ve built up over 40 years. Often, you know, when I’m looking for a vacation, I pick, you know, something like the Philippines, or the Indian Ocean, or the Red Sea so that I could get different seashells. A long time ago they had them on display in the library, the one that’s now part of TSC; they had them there. Schoolchildren would come and visit them. … So, I put it on display and I hope to put it on display again.”
When you think of the future of America, what are some of your concerns? “Well, what really concerns me right now is President Trump. I’m hoping he’s actually smart enough to do this job. I hope the people he’s surrounded with are going to be able to [do the job] … because he has very little background in foreign affairs or politics or the military.”
What gives you a sense of hope? “I’ve always liked young people. They continue to be optimistic and very decent people for the most part. I think America has good people. Most Americans are kind.”
What are some more fun facts about yourself? “My son also teaches here in the business department, and my daughter-in law also teaches in the business department. [Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship Associate Professor] Russell Adams and my daughter-in law is [Associate Professor] Clara Downey-Adams. I have another daughter, she’s in San Antonio. … Kirstin Langreich. She’s married now. She is a nurse supervisor.
What advice would you give to students? “Well, to learn what they’re being taught so that they can actually make a good living at what their career is.”
–Compiled by Michelle Espinoza
