TIL: The Guy Who Runs The National Endowment For The Humanities Is Nicknamed ‘Bro’

William Adams is a very important person. He is the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is a United State Senate appointed position. He is also an Army veteran and an all-around badass who’s damn good at managing money for institutions and such.

For example, he was President of the very Bro-tastic Colby College in Maine (go White Mules!), as well as Bucknell University. Adams also served as senior president of the prestigious New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), easily the most Bro-tastic of all the D-3 lacrosse conferences (sorry, Patriot League). He studied in France as a Fulbright Scholar and taught political philosophy at Santa Clara University in California and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Colorado College and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Cruz. And then there’s this badass quote from his curriculum vitae:

Adams’s formal education was interrupted by three years of service in the Army, including one year in Vietnam. It was partly that experience, he says, that motivated him to study and teach in the humanities. “It made me serious in a certain way,” he says. “And as a 20-year-old combat infantry advisor, I came face to face, acutely, with questions that writers, artists, philosophers, and musicians examine in their work — starting with, ‘What does it mean to be human?’”

Respect. As a state school liberal arts major, fist-pound to that, William Adams. More importantly, today we learned that his nickname is “bro”, as in William “Bro” Adams. That’s so Bro, Bro. The reason is a great one:

Adams, nicknamed Bro by his father in honor of a friend who died in World War Two, is married to Lauren Sterling, philanthropy specialist at Educare Central Maine and has a daughter and a stepson. He currently resides in Falmouth, Maine.

Read that again. “Nicknamed Bro by his father in honor of a friend who died in World War Two.” Mad respect. Take heed, Bros.

I can’t decide if he looks more like Harrison Ford or Michael Douglas. Shout out to the BroBible reader who brought this very BroBible-worthy news to our attention.

Brandon Wenerd is BroBible's publisher, writing on this site since 2009. He writes about sports, music, men's fashion, outdoor gear, traveling, skiing, and epic adventures. Based in Los Angeles, he also enjoys interviewing athletes and entertainers. Proud Penn State alum, former New Yorker. Email: brandon@brobible.com