Terry Adamson is executive vice president of the National Geographic Society. In this position, which he has held since January 1998, he is responsible for coordinating the international growth of the Society, including the publication of local-language editions of National Geographic magazine and other publications. He also oversees all Society legal activities and is responsible for coordinating relationships and maintaining good relations with governments around the world and in the United States.



Additionally, Adamson serves as corporate secretary of the Society and as a member of the Society's Education Foundation board of governors, as well as a member since its 1996 inception of the board of directors of National Geographic Ventures, the Society's wholly owned taxable subsidiary.



Prior to joining the National Geographic Society in 1998, Adamson was a partner in the Washington office of Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler, a New York-based law firm. He was a senior official of the Department of Justice during the Carter administration as special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States from 1977 to 1979, as well as chief spokesman of the Department of Justice from 1978 to 1979.



Adamson was a reporter for The Atlanta Constitution from 1969 to 1971 and served as a law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Griffin B. Bell from 1973 to 1974. He was a Henry Luce Scholar in Tokyo, Japan, from 1975 to 1976 and a fellow of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from 1979 to 1980.



Adamson served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Asia Foundation for more than four years and still serves as a trustee and a member of its executive committee. He has served as a member of the board of trustees and executive committee of the Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga., since its inception. He represents the Carter family on the Advisory Committee on Presidential Libraries at the National Archives. He also is a member of the board of directors of the Henry Luce Foundation.



By appointment of presidents George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton, and three Senate confirmations, he continues to serve on the board of directors of the State Justice Institute.



Adamson holds a bachelor's degree in history from Emory University and a law degree with honors from Emory University.