Adam received his BA in Fine Arts from Evergreen College in 1981, then continued on to achieve an MA (1984) and an MFA (1986) in Printmaking from the University of Iowa, which offered the first MFA printmaking program in the US. There he studied under the famed Argentinian printmaker Mauricio Lasansky (1914-2012), who established the School of Printmaking at the university
Adam relocated to Eugene and moved from printmaking to oil painting. His work immediately caught the attention of numerous west coast art dealers. Adam was hired by Lane Community College, where he taught printmaking, drawing, and painting from 1990 until his retirement in 2019.
