WELCOME TO DR. "A's"    HOMEPAGE
  Dr. Jim Adamitis

               Motto: "All knowledge will serve you."

    Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
    American Association of Higher Education
    American Association of University Administrators
    American Society of Criminology
    Midwestern Criminal Justice Association
    Ohio Council of Criminal Justice Education
    Western Society of Criminology

    Alpha Omega Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha (The National Political Science Honor Society)
    Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma (The National Criminal Justice Honor Society)

For 35 years I served as director of the College of Arts and Sciences'
multi-disciplinary program in Criminal Justice Studies with the University of
Dayton in Dayton, OH. During  my administrative tenure, the program consisted
of  faculty who were criminal  justicians, criminologists, political scientists,
psychologists, sociologists, social workers and a legalist.  We were favored with
the staff support services of a secretary, an undergraduate research assistant, a
student technical assistant and the officers of our two  student associations, viz., the
Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma (the National Criminal Justice Honor Society) and
Omega Phi Delta (the Criminal Justice Student/Professional
Association).

Later,  I was given a sabbatical, that enabled me to develop five WebCT based
courses for UD and assist the College of Mount Saint Joseph's Department of
Behavioral Sciences in Cincinnati, OH, as an adjunct faculty member and
criminology consultant where, with two other colleagues, we obtained a Fulbright
International Scholar in Residence Grant.

My professional areas of interest are in research methods, contemporary issues,
computer instructional development, policing and society victimology and
leadership theory.

But my life did not always involve academicians, administrators, students
and professionals  within the field of criminal justice.  It began many years
ago in Cleveland, Ohio,  where I was born and raised.  My parents
were of Lithuanian heritage, first generation Americans, and so
I was blessed in having experienced the food, culture, family
outings and religious affiliation of both the so-called "old"
world and the "new."
 
 

Age 1: Western or English?
(Photographer's Pony - Cleveland, OH)

I was baptized in St. George's Lithuanian Church and
attended  St. Peter's parochial grade and junior high school, where I
received my First Holy Communion and was later Confirmed.

Age 8: First Holy Communion

 

      Devil or Angel?

Click here to read about my "favorite"
                  ball team.

 
                                                    
                                                              Go Tribe!

 

                                                                               
                                                                     Circa 1952: My parents whose sacrifices
                                                                                                          enabled me to attend college.

Click here to read about my
 "favorite" football team.

                                                              
                                                         "Oldies but Goodies" anyone? Click here to
                                                                                hear my "favorite" Cleveland radio station.
                                                                                        

My love for horseback riding grew at an early age.
Since I was raised in the inner city of Cleveland, the only
horses I ever saw were in western movies, being ridden by
the Cleveland Police Department's Mounted Patrol  or
were pulling wagons in our neighborhood by "ragmen."
("Ragmen" were elderly males of dubious character who
collected old rags and had them recycled with other
paper products.)

                    Age 10: Riding "Goldie"
                (family friend's farm in PA)

Every year I would spend my summers vacationing and working on a large
Holstein dairy farm (over 350 head) in the beautiful  mountains of northeast  PA. 
The farm was owned by very close friends of our family whose grandparents came
from Lithuania, with my family, in the early 1900s. It was there I learned to ride
western-style  (walk, jog, lope), do the traditional quarter turns, backups, etc., while
attending and participating in horse shows.  My summer pals, viz., Tom, Andy and
Alex,  were the grandchildren (third generation) of our family's Lithuanian ties. They
lived on the 500 acre farm and shared with me my love for horses, the land and the
"Endless Mountains" of northeast Pennsylvania.

                                                  
                                                 Age 14: (l to r) Tom with a colt, Andy -  riding
                                                        "Rita",  me - riding "Rex," and Alex - riding "Trigger"
 
 

                                                                       
    Download RealAudio                                                                     Click the notes to hear why
to hear ra, rd and rm files.                                                         I am fond of the west and "My Pony."
                                                                                                                              (a rm file)

Please note: For some computers, it may take 3 to 5 minutes to load this
                                         .rm audio file.  Be patient.

 Hinckley, OH is located approximately 30 miles south from downtown Cleveland and
hosts Hinckley Lake Park (which today is part of the greater Cleveland Metro Parks System).
It was there my other high school buddies and I would spend
our weekends riding horses.  In fact, it became a ritual
that we would spend our weekends at the
Circle M Horse Farm.  We were the "Three Amigos,"
viz., Rich, Don and me. Of course,
dating Carole (the owner's daughter) had nothing to do with it.
Yeah, right!
Age 19: Hinckley, OH  Riding "Dan"
(l to r: Rich, Carole, me and Don)

                                   
                        The batteries are working fine.
                                  Enjoy a true cavalry tune we
                                 would mimic when riding the
                                   Hinckley trails.   (a ra file)
 

 Please note: For some computers, it may take 3 to 5 minutes to load this
                                         .ra audio file.  Be patient.

                                  
                                    Age 20: In Hinckley, OH, taking a weekend
                                                   break from my undergraduate studies at
                                                                 Kent State University.

                                                                        
                                               "Next time watch the trail and not the buzzards flying into Hinckley!"

You have to remember this was the "turbulent 60s." Our country was divided over the
Asian War in Vietnam.  A college deferment meant one more year of not being inducted,
demonstrations were running rampant all over the country, close friends were being
drafted and going off to war, ROTC meant not becoming a "grunt" (if you
graduated) and political activism was alive and well.

And so, the "Three Amigos" along with Carole separated.  Marriage, war, college and/or
a deferred job entered our lives.

                                                                      
                                                        Go ahead! Play this record and
                                                                       listen to a tune made popular during
                                                                     part of the Vietnam War era.  (a wav file)

                          Please note: For some computers, it may take 3 to 5 minutes to load this
                                                                   .wav audio file.  Be patient.
 

was a wonderful experience.  It was there I earned both my
Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees, obtained an assistantship with the Dean
of Students Office as a graduate counselor and later an Ombudsman, made life long friends,
and undertook a field practicum with the Parma Police Department in Parma, OH.
 

After graduating and working for the police department, I left to take a teaching
position with the State University of New York on Long Island.  For several years I
worked as a young assistant professor and department information representative for
the criminal justice curriculum while supplementing my income with the Ocean Beach
Police Department. To this very day, I still keep in touch with  very close and
cherished friends I made while living near New York City and working on Long Island.

As the department information representative for the criminal justice curriculum at
,   I was responsible for representing our
chairperson and the department in relation to those events the chair deemed were necessary.
One of those situations involved hosting a Marianist Brother from the University
of Dayton in Dayton, OH. While showing the good brother around Long Island,
we exchanged information concerning mutual interests.  It was through that exchange
I was extended an invitation to fly to Dayton and interview for a new position they were
creating in Political Science to head up their criminal justice curriculum.  I grabbed at
the opportunity!

              
               Age 27: A very young assistant professor
                    with my friend, colleague and mentor Prof.
                           Philip Lynch, Chairman (SUNY)
 

I realized from the start, I could not advance my carrer at "UD" unless I
pursued a course of study for the terminal degree, i.e., the Ph.D.

Enter  !

It was at Miami University that I learned to appreciate the rigors of a true
graduate education.  Both my candidacy committee and the dissertation committee
were demanding.  Anyone who has ever pursued a doctorate knows what I mean
when I say: "Re-write!"

Now after 35 years of professional association with the   in
Dayton, OH, that involved curriculum revisions, grants, publishing, academic/career
counseling, teaching, serving on committees and holding elected  offices in regional
and state associations, I have completed my one year sabbatical and return to
enter my 37th year of professional association as a faculty member.

In addition, I am also  fortunate in being able to serve the     in
Cincinnati, OH,  with two other colleagues, in coordinating a Fulbright International
Scholar in Residence Grant that involves a visiting professor from Iraq.

The dear Lord has blessed me with a wonderful family, fond college memories and
friends, great students, dedicated colleagues, a super terrific staff and a meaningful purpose
for living...being in higher education,
a dad and a husband.

                               
                   My wife, Peggy, won't mind if you
                  play her 45 (rpm) record player to
                  listen to one of her favorite "rock"
                 melodies by Pete Seeger. (a mid file)

          Please note: For some computers, it may take 2 to 3 minutes to load this
                                               .mid audio file.  Be patient.

                              
                     Say, what does one do with horsey by-products?
 

This web page is dedicated to the memory of the following "folks"
who helped me ride the straight and narrow trail throughout
the many phases of my life.

They were:

Special  "thanks" also to my current trail blazers:

Back n Saddle.mid