Ralph N. Adams was born August 26, 1924, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He began his college education before World War II, but was drafted into the Chemical Warfare Service in 1942. He had always harbored a desire to fly, however, and joined the Army Air Corps in 1943. He flew as a bomber pilot in the Pacific, which earned him his life-long nickname, Buzz.

After the war, Adams returned to his education, earning his bachelors degree in Chemistry from Rutgers in 1950. In 1953 he received his Ph.D. from Princeton, where he remained as an instructor for two years. He joined the faculty of the University of Kansas in 1955, where he focused his research on organic electrochemistry. Adams' research proved the existence of "free radicals" in the human body, which earned him several awards. He was named a University Distinguished Professor in 1965.

In 1969, Adams shifted the focus of his research to neuroscience, tracking neurotransmitters and neurochemicals involved in schizophrenia. Adams' research in this area led to the discovery that the brain's halves have different chemical make ups. From 1978-1982 he served as a Professor of Neurobehavioral Sciences at the Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka, Kan.

Over the course of his career, Adams received numerous awards and fellowships and maintained joint appointments in the Chemistry, Biochemistry, Psychiatry, and Pharmacology and Toxicology Departments at KU. He retired in 1992 and passed away in 2002.