Charles Kendall Adams was historian and university president born in Derby, Vermont. He moved to a farm near Denmark, Iowa with his parents in 1856.

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1861 with a Masters in Arts, he became an assistant professor there in history and Latin from 1863 to 1867 and a professor of history from 1867 to 1885. He studied educational methods in Europe from 1867 until 1868 and later implemented the German seminar system of instruction. In 1881 he was appointed dean of the school of political science at Michigan. He was a history lecturer at Cornell University and its president from 1885 until 1892, when he resigned with the intention of devoting his time to writing.

However, he was persuaded to become president of the University of Wisconsin. He held this position until 1901, when he was forced to retire because of ill health. During his presidency he carried out much of the building program that had been formulated by his predecessor, President Chamberlin. The armory and the law building were completed in 1893, and the state historical building was completed and occupied in 1900. He was also an enthusiastic proponent of a vigorous intercollegiate athletic program and the social activity by the students. He wrote 'Democracy and Monarchy' in France in 1874, 'Manual of Historical Literature' in 1882, 'Christopher Columbus' in 1892, and 'A History of the United States' in 1903 in co-operation with W. P. Trent. He also edited a collection of representative British orations and served as editor-in-chief of the revision of 'Johnson's Cyclopaedia.' 

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]