Professor's retirement marks beginning of 7-year journey

After 35 years of teaching at ASU, Roger Adelson makes his retirement official at a ceremony, today, in the West Hall building, that overlooks the "Secret Garden" on the Tempe campus. 

A professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Adelson is the author of three books – "Mark Sykes: Portrait of an Amateur," "London and the Invention of the Middle East" and "Money, Power, and War, 1902-1922" – and has taught courses in British history, global history and Middle Eastern history. 

Slowing down and taking it easy are not in the professor's plans come May 1. Adelson plans to complete the drafts of three plays which he has written – all about historical figures – and embark on a voyage that will span seven years and take him all over the world – from Latin America and the Caribbean to Sub-Saharan Africa to Southeast Asia to the Middle East – with the ultimate goal of publishing a book and several articles on his experiences.

Adelson has received bachelor's degrees from George Washington University and Oxford University and his doctorate from Washington University, St. Louis, where he held a graduate Danforth Fellowship. He was an Alistair Horne Research Fellow at Oxford and taught briefly at Harvard University before joining the ASU faculty in 1974.