Paul Adams, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, has been elected to the Executive Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).

He will officially take office Oct. 1, and his term will be for 3 years.

Established in 1972, the mission of NOBCChE is to build an eminent cadre of successful diverse global leaders in STEM and advance their professional endeavors by adding value to their academic, development, leadership, and philanthropic endeavors throughout the life-cycle of their careers.

To that end, educational partnerships with school districts, municipalities, businesses, universities, and other organizations in the public and private sectors have been established to provide and support local, regional, national, and global programs that assist people of color in fully realizing their potential in academic, professional, and entrepreneurial pursuits in chemistry, chemical engineering, and allied fields.

NOBCChE is governed by the Executive Board of Directors who serve to guide the direction of the organization and provide for continuity in its objectives and practices. 

Adams, also a faculty member in the U of A's interdisciplinary cellular and molecular biology program, earned a B.S. in biochemistry from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Adams' research and scholarly activities have garnered federal funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, as well as from state agencies such as the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, and the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Foundation at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. 

He has directed the research projects of over 50 Honors, undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students in his laboratory at the university, and has mentored many other students since arriving to the U. of A.  

Honors and awards Adams has recently received include: the William and Wilma Haines Distinguished Lecturer in Biochemistry, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN (2017); the Distinguished Faculty Award, The Honors College (2017); Top 10 Most Outstanding Faculty Member, University of Arkansas Student Government and Student Alumni Associations (2018); Faculty Researcher National Role Model, National Minority Access Inc. (2019); Lifetime Achievement Award, Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Council (2020)

Since 2017, Adams has served as principal investigator of an NSF grant that funded the Path to Graduation program, which recruits talented high school students from underrepresented populations to help them thrive and succeed at the university. Thus far, approximately 40 percent of these students have become honors students and 100% have graduated.

In December 2019, Adams was selected as a member of the first cohort of the UARK Leaders Program, a program offered through the Office of the Provost, the Office of Human Resources and Walton College of Business Executive Education. This new leadership development program was launched this spring to support the professional growth of influential and up-and coming university leaders while enhancing collaboration and innovation on campus.