management of CERN's new projects were important to getting funding and approval from CERN's council. His designs were cautious and focused on reliability while providing the ability for new improvements to be built. The Super Proton Synchrotron was able to reach energies of 540 GeV. With the reorganization of CERN in 1976, he became the executive Director-General, working on obtaining funding for the LEP collider. The new collider used magnet systems for acceleration that were designed by Adams in his previous accelerators. He was knighted in 1981. Personal life Adams married Renie Warburton on January 24, 1943. They had two daughters and a son Awards and honors Rontegen Prize, University of Giessen (1960) D. Sc. (Honorary), University of Geneva Duddell Medal, Physical Society (1961) D. Sc. (Honorary), University of Birmingham (1961) Fellow of Royal Society (1963) Leverhulme Medal (Royal Society) (1972) Royal Medal, Royal Society (1977) Knight Bachelor (1981) John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science (JAI), an accelerator physics research institute comprising researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, University of Oxford and Imperial College London is named in his honour. A main road ("Route Adams") in CERN's Prevessin site is also named after him. See also List of Directors General of CERN References External links The John Adams Accelerator Institute 1920 births 1984 deaths 20th-century British engineers English physicists Accelerator physicists English nuclear physicists People associated with CERN Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Royal Medal winners British expatriates in Switzerland