RALEIGH, N.C. _ A University of North Carolina-Wilmington professor who was set to retire next month after a history of controversial social media posts was found dead in his home on Thursday afternoon.
Deputies with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office responded to the Wilmington home of Mike Adams to do a wellness check and found his body, according to Lt. J.J. Brewer. The Sheriff's Office is conducting a death investigation at the house, but did not release any other details about the circumstances.
Brewer said Adams' family and the university have been notified.
UNCW officials did not immediately respond to a phone call Thursday evening.
Adams, a 55-year-old tenured criminology professor, was set to retire from UNCW on Aug. 1, after reaching a settlement agreement with the university for more than $500,000. He sparked controversy at the university for more than a decade, particularly and most recently surrounding his comments on social media, the News & Observer previously reported.
His early retirement was announced last month after Adams was publicly criticized for tweets about Gov. Roy Cooper's stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus.
In a May 28 tweet, Adams said universities shouldn't be closing but that they should shut down "the nonessential majors. Like Women's Studies."
The next day, Adams tweeted, "This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top. I almost felt like a free man who was not living in the slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go!"
Adams also tweeted about the individuals protesting the killing of George Floyd, saying that rioters were "thugs looking for an opportunity to break the law with impunity."
Multiple change.org petitions, with more than 120,000 signatures, started circulating against Adams. And faculty, students, alumni and celebrities demanded that the university get rid of him.
UNC-Wilmington Chancellor Jose Sartarelli said the best way to resolve the issue "quickly, with certainty, and in the most fiscally responsible way" was to negotiate a settlement.
The total settlement amount is $504,702.76 and accounts for lost salary and lost retirement benefits. The deal was approved by the North Carolina Attorney General and the UNC System Board of Governors.
