WASHINGTON (June 20, 2024) - Reuben Adams, a Petersburg, Va., native, was a four-year member of the Howard University football team (1985-89) where he was part of the first squad to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship (1987).
 
For their efforts, Adams and the 1987 football team was inducted into the 2014 Howard University Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
In 1990, Adams earned his sociology degree and he worked in juvenile corrections as a corrections officer and intake officer in Alexandria, Va., after graduation until 2000.
 
That same year, he then transitioned into the field of education and began his teaching and coaching career, concentrating on social studies and language arts at the high school level.
 
Adams currently teaches U.S. and African American history and given the responsibility by the state of Virginia to be one of the first teachers of the AP African American Studies curriculum, which will be implemented in the 2024 school year.
 
Adams' most vivid memory during his educational career was teaching on 9/11, one of the saddest and most horrific days in U.S. history.
 
"I was in the classroom with a student whose father worked at the Pentagon," he recalls. "The student's father did not go into work that morning, but I will never forget watching the news with her as we got news of the plane that flew into the building that morning."
 
Adding to his accolades as an educator, Adams was a finalist for the 2006 Disney Teacher of the Year Award.
 
Adams has coached football, girls' basketball and girls' tennis at the varsity level and earned the title of 2011 Inside NOVA Girls' Tennis Coach of the Year in Prince William County.
 
"What I enjoy most about being a teacher, mentor and role model to our youth is when I am able to help students and student-athletes get into college to pursue higher education, especially with scholarships and, even more so, when they attend HBCUs," he says.
 
Adams has been serving as the Early Identification Program (EIP) Coordinator for Prince William County Public Schools since 2016. This program is run through George Mason University and identifies first-generation students from Prince William County. EIP follows students from seventh grade through high school, helping them get admitted into any school that they choose.
 
Adams has been married for 27 years to a fellow Class of '88 Bison.
 
"Although our paths didn't cross while on the yard, our love for the ocean brought us together in Virginia Beach and we have tried to visit a new beach every year since then," he adds.
 
The two have three children who attend HBCUs. Their oldest child has followed in their footsteps as a Bison while the two youngest have created their own path as North Carolina A&T State Aggies. Adams and his family currently reside in Manassas, Va.
 
About Where Are They Now?
 
The weekly series of "Where Are They Now?" appears on Thursdays throughout the year.
 
The series will feature former student-athletes from all sports and eras, highlighting their careers as athletes at the University and what they are presently doing.
 
All interested former athletes and their coaches should submit a short bio, a recent head shot and contact information on how they can be reached via email to Deyla Davis (deyla.davis@bison.howard.edu) and Derek W. Bryant (derek.bryant@howard.edu).
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.