In 1946, the Priestley Medal was awarded to Roger Adams by the American Chemical Society “to recognize distinguished services to chemistry,” the Society’s most prestigious award.

During his 56 years at the University of Illinois, Adams worked tirelessly to transform the model of advanced chemistry education in the U.S. from Ira Remsen’s (1923 Priestley Medalist) German model to something distinctly different—something more democratic and recognizably American.

Adams was chair of the department  his entire tenure at Illinois, from 1926-1957, he trained about 250 chemistry Ph.D.s and innumerable postdocs. His method was to start his students on projects in which they were likely to succeed and could be quickly published. The confidence that young chemists got after a first successful publication, Adams believed, would prompt them to try more difficult work. In 1954, Adams wrote that his “biggest contribution to chemical industry has been very indirect through many of the students who have been eminently successful in industry.”