Earl W. Adams, Jr.

Earl W. Adams, Jr. of Meadville, Pennsylvania and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts died on July 4, 2026 after a brief illness.

He was born in Lansing, Michigan on November 13, 1937 to Earl and Violet Crystal Adams. Earl attended school in Lansing and matriculated at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1959. He attended Johns Hopkins University for a year before shifting his academic focus and attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), from which he earned his PhD in 1971.

While at MIT, Earl met Barbara Charlton, who was a librarian with the Dewey Library. They married in August of 1964 and were happily married until Barbara's death in 2023.

Earl began his academic career in 1964 as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Amherst College. In 1966 he joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh, again as an Assistant Professor of Economics. In 1972 Earl joined the staff of Allegheny College where he was named the Andrew Wells Robertson Professor of Economics, and where he would remain until his retirement in 2005.

Evidence of his success as a professor can be seen in the awards he was given while at Allegheny. He received the Thoburn Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994 and the Julian Ross Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2005.

In 2008 Earl was invited to be a Trustee of Allegheny College, a posting he happily served until stepping down in 2015.

Earl's long career at Allegheny inspired countless students, and his spirit of intellectual curiosity lives on through the Earl W. Adams, Jr. Endowment, established by Allegheny College Trustee William H. Brown, '80, and the Earl Adams Economics Scholarship Fund, established by Dr. Roger Tufts ('76) and the Elkes Foundation.

Beyond Allegheny, Earl was Research Director of Business Taxation for the Pennsylvania Tax Commission, 1979–1981; a member of the advisory council of Pennsylvania Blue Shield, 1980–1982; and a board member of Active Aging in Meadville.

He was a member of the American Economic Association, the Pennsylvania Economics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi.

Earl was an accomplished violinist in his youth, a lifelong opera fan, a voracious reader, a curious traveler, and insatiably curious all his life. He was quick to laugh and will be missed by his children, his colleagues, and his former students.

Earl is survived by his sons, Earl W. Adams III of New York City, and Nicholas Adams of Pittsburgh and his sister, Patricia Ammann of Holland, Michigan.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Hyannis Public Library: https://hyannislibrary.org/make-a-donation/

Arrangements by STEPHEN P. MIZNER FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, INC., 404 CHESTNUT ST., MEADVILLE.

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