Professor Emerita Mary Ellen Adams: A Light at Emerson for 46 Years

For nearly half a century, Professor Emerita Mary Ellen Adams helped shape not only Emerson College’s Performing Arts Department, but the spirit of creativity and community that defines it. From costume shops in the College’s old Beacon Hill haunts to its current buildings, Adams’ presence stretched across generations of students.

Adams, who taught in the Performing Arts Department from 1969 until her retirement in 2015, passed away peacefully on February 17, 2026, at age 81, with family by her side. Recognized as Professor Emerita upon her retirement, she was among the longest-serving faculty members in the College’s history — a distinction she carried with pride.

“My mother loved Emerson and my whole family did too,” said her son, Daniel Adams. “She loved the students and loved her colleagues, many were her closest friends. At the time of her retirement I recall that she was very proud to be one of the longest serving faculty of the College.”

A Career That Grew with the College

Melia Bensussen, Senior Distinguished Director-in-Residence, Adams’ generosity.

“Mary Ellen Adams was the backbone of the Performing Arts department for her entire and very long career. In her crafting smock, she would boast about her first year students’ pillow projects, while supporting a number of Department Chairs as Assistant Chair,” Bensussen said. “Her wise and balanced judgement, her generous and very moral heart, and her ability to always see the bigger picture, helped guide the department and generations of students. The school is the better for her contributions, though she would shy away from such a statement. Luckily for us, many of us carry her advice and presence with us, and ever will.”

Jason Allen-Forrest, Operations Manager and Assistant to the Chair of Performing Arts, remembered her steady warmth.

“She was the sweetest person on the planet. She always did her numerous tasks with a smile and a genial attitude. Was quick with a laugh to brighten your mood, but gave tough love when needed. When she retired, the Department as a whole, and I personally lost a colleague and a friend. Now with her passing, we’ve lost a light that shone on us even from afar.”

Adams’ tenure mirrored Emerson’s physical transformation. She began teaching at the corner of Beacon and Berkeley streets, moved to Brimmer Street, returned to Beacon Street closer to the Boston Common, relocated to Tremont Street, and ultimately finished her career on Boylston Street. Around 1969, one of her earliest summers was spent at the Deertrees Camp and Summer Theatre program in Maine, part of a partnership between Emerson and Deertrees — an early example of the experiential learning she valued.

Early in her career, Adams ran the costume shop at Emerson’s Beacon and Brimmer Street location and led costume production for major shows including: Fiddler on the Roof; Guys and Dolls; No, No, Nanette; and George M! — the opening production of the refurbished Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston. In later years, she shifted her focus more fully to teaching make-up studios, puppetry courses, and introductory theatre classes, passing on both technical mastery and creative confidence.

“One of My Little Ducklings”

For many alumni, Adams was the first face of Emerson they encountered — and the reason they chose to stay. Upon the news of her passing, alumni and former colleagues spoke glowingly on The Emerson Mafia Facebook page. 

Becky Hylton ’96 remembers arriving on campus as a timid high school student, she shared with Emerson Today.

“Oh what a sweet dear woman she was. I came to Emerson because of her welcoming adorableness. When I came up for a weekend tour as a meek high school student, [I] walked into 69 Brimmer Street and there she was. [She] came over to me and said, ‘You must be one of my little ducklings, come on I’ll show you around, you’re going to love it.’ I knew I had found my place. Thank you Mary Ellen.”

Kenzie Stroud Piper ’03 echoed that sentiment.

“She was one of the greatest teachers I ever had the pleasure of learning from. I took every class I could that she taught. Her spirit and her humor taught generations of students skills that went beyond puppets and makeup. May her memory live on in each of us.”

It was common, her family said, for students to refer to her simply as “mom.”

Emerson as Family

For Adams, Emerson was never just a workplace — it was woven into family life. Daniel Adams recalls how he and his brother grew up in the orbit of the College.

“If we were home sick from school, we’d sleep on the floor of her offices at Beacon and Berkeley Street,” he said. Summers were spent organizing make-up cabinets and student kits. He and his brother experimented with theatrical make-up on each other — sometimes while their mother was actively teaching — and hid among costume racks in the shop.

When the Cutler Majestic Theatre was under renovation, the construction site felt special. “It was especially magical to be at the opening show of the Majestic when the lights turned on and the curtain went up,” Adams remembered.

He recalled accompanying her on button and fabric hunts through Chinatown and Boston. For Emerson’s production of George M!, she tracked down a cache of white tuxedos at a Salvation Army — once worn by a gospel choir — and reimagined them for the stage.

Even home life blended seamlessly with Emerson projects. She saved chicken and turkey bones from family dinners to use in make-up classes, where students practiced creating prosthetic wound effects. In the attic of the family’s 1888 Victorian house in Newton, she built a sewing studio filled with machines and fabric. During a children’s theatre production of Strega Nona, the house filled with hundreds of puppets of varying scales — from wearable creations to marionettes. Daniel, then about 13, helped carve foam rubber blocks into puppet heads using an electric turkey carving knife.

Through it all, creativity was communal, hands-on, and joyful — an extension of the way she taught.

A Lasting Legacy

Born February 8, 1945, in Columbus, Indiana, Adams grew up on family farms before discovering her path in theatre arts. She married architect Norman Grinstead Adams in 1971, and together they restored their Newton home while raising two sons. She was also a devoted member and Sunday School teacher at First Lutheran Church of Waltham, where the basement remains filled with pageant costumes she created for children throughout the years.

But at Emerson, her legacy is indelible.

When she retired in 2015 and was named Professor Emerita, the title formalized what generations already knew: Mary Ellen Adams helped build the Performing Arts Department into what it is today.

“And she knew her shit, too,” said Assistant Director of Academic Advising Tim Douglas. “Institutions dream of having someone as sharp, expert, and experienced as she was. It’s people like Mary Ellen Adams who helped make Emerson College what it is. Hers, and the shoulders of others like her, are the very ones we all talk about standing upon. I hope we can find a fitting place to honor her name on campus soon.”

After 46 years, five campus moves, thousands of students, and countless costumes, puppets, and lessons, Mary Ellen Adams’ light continues to shine — in studios, in theatres, and in the artists she helped shape.

Services

A public wake will be held from 4–7 p.m. on February 27 at Joyce Funeral Home in Waltham. A public funeral will be held at 11:00 a.m. on February 28 at First Lutheran Church of Waltham. Contributions may be made to First Lutheran Church of Waltham.