Irving and Ruth Adler moved from their home in Bayside, New York, to Shaftsbury, Vermont, at the end of 1960. In 1961, Irving Adler completed his doctorate in mathematics at Columbia University under supervision of Ellis Kolchin. After moving to Vermont, he became the chairman of a committee of Vermont peace organizations that mobilized against atmospheric testing of atomic weapons; led a contingent from southern Vermont to the 1963 March on Washington; and was president of a group called the Vermont-in-Mississippi Corporation that supported civil rights activities in the southern U.S.