[2] Adams served with distinction in the 83rd Infantry and 11th Armored Divisions, landing at Normandy in the days following D-Day, "participating in the Battle of the Bulge, and helping to liberate three concentration camps.

[2] After World War II ended, Adams returned to his wife, Pauline Gordon (they had wed on August 23, 1943),[2] and his studies and completed his MA and Ph.D degrees at Yale University in 1946 and 1947.

For many years at Michigan State, Adams taught a senior-level class (known in the course catalog as Economics 444) on American enterprise and public policy.

"[5] Following the resignation of John A. Hannah in 1969, Adams was asked by the Board of Trustees to serve as interim president while a selection process could be undertaken.

Adams was, however, frequently able to defuse tense situations using a combination of self-effacing humor and a willingness to engage the students personally in open dialogue.

[6] In spite of his limited administrative experience, Walter Adams carried Michigan State University through a very difficult period in student/establishment relations.

His success can be measured by the fact that toward the end of his term, petitions requesting that he remain as president had collected the signatures of some 950 faculty and 20,000 students—approximately half of the entire student body.

A commemorative garden, plaque and park bench, nestled at the edge of the field midway between Cowles House and the Music Building, were later added.

In 2002 a former student and protégé of Adams, MSU Trustee Randall L. Pittman, along with his wife Mary, donated USD $6 million to restore and update Marshall Hall, a former bacteriology laboratory which has long held offices of the Department of Economics.