Adams believes that although the appointments are an honor in themselves, the greatest benefit is that they allow him to continue to contribute to the knowledge in his field without the anxiety of seeking funding. Adams held the Claudius M. Easley, Jr. Faculty Fellowship in Liberal Arts for nearly three years before being named the Patricia and Bookman Peters Professor of History.

Because Adams' research consists almost entirely of seeking out and examining primary source materials in places that are distant and expensive to access, endowment funds have been an invaluable resource.

As the inaugural holder of the Easley Fellowship, Adams made progress on two major endeavors. He completed a book, Europe, Crisis and Conflict, 1890-1945, and began a project about the life of British statesman Arthur James Balfour. He presented his findings at several academic meetings in recent years.

The Peters Professorship will allow Adams to continue his work on the Balfour project. He will also begin a study of the period 1910-1935 in Britain, in which he will examine political, diplomatic, technological, social, intellectual and cultural trends with the goal of reaching a better understanding of the decades Adams says defined Great Britain.