1984
Citation:
Thomas B. Adams is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Campbell-Edwald Company, a member of the board of the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. and of the Finance and Policy Committees of the Interpublic Group of Companies. He also is Chairman of the agency system knows as Marschalk Campbell-Ewald Worldwide.
Born in Detroit, Mr. Adams received his formal school and graduated form Wayne State University in 1941 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He entered the Navy for a four year tour of duty where he served as a carrier pilot and earned the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and Presidential Citation.
Mr. Adams began his career at Campbell-Edwald in 1945, after his release from active duty. He rose through the ranks of the advertising firm from writer to account supervisor to account executive to vice president and assistant to the president by 1955. That same year he was named “The Outstanding Young Advertising Man of the Year” by the Association of Adverting Men and Women of New York. In 1958 he was appointed president of Campbell-Edwald and Chairman and CEO in 1968.
Mr. Adams has served as a chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, president of The Michigan Advertising Industry Alliance and the chairman of The Advertising Council, Inc. He was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Menninger Foundation and was elected to the board of Directors of McLouth Steel Corporation. He has also served as director Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce and president of the Adcraft Club of Detroit. Mr. Adams has served as chairman of the Clean Detroit Committee and the Michigan United Negro College Fund. He is a past president of Wayne Ste University Alumni Association and served a six year term on the WSU Board of Governors.
Presently, Mr. Adams serves on the boards of Detroit’s United Foundation, The Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation, Children’s Hospital, Detroit renaissance, Inc., and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Detroit. He is also a board member of the Music Hall Center Performing Arts, The Economic Club of Detroit, the Highway User Federation, The Traffic Safety Association of Michigan, The National Alliance of Businessmen, the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Award was presented at the Works of Mercy Dinner, 1984.