Julie P. Martin, an academic leader with an extensive record of advancing engineering education, has been named director of the Engineering Education Transformations Institute (EETI) at the University of Georgia College of Engineering.
Martin is the inaugural assistant vice president for research and team talent development in the Office of Knowledge Enterprise at The Ohio State University (OSU). In addition, she is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Education at OSU, and principal investigator of the Elevate Research Group.
“We are fortunate to have Dr. Martin join us as the next leader of our Engineering Education Transformations Institute. She is a scholar of the highest caliber and we are looking forward to the future growth of engineering education scholarship in our college,” said College of Engineering Dean Don Leo.
Prior to joining OSU in 2019, Martin served as program director of the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Education and Centers Division. In that role, she managed an engineering education portfolio of about 250 active awards with a $20M annual budget. While at NSF, she was on the writing team for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Five-Year Federal STEM Education Strategic Plan for 2018-2023.
In 2008, Martin was among the first faculty hired to develop Clemson University’s PhD program in engineering and science education. While at Clemson, Martin won an NSF Early Faculty Career (CAREER) award for her research, “Influences of Social Capital on Underrepresented Engineering Students’ Academic and Career Decisions.”
Martin has encouraged the engineering education research community to embrace methodological activism, a paradigm whereby researchers intentionally leverage research methods for the political purpose of empowering marginalized participants and communities. As the editor-in-chief of Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, she seeks to create a culture of constructive peer review in academia.
Martin has held a variety of national leadership positions, with involvement in the Women in Engineering ProActive Network, including serving as its national president, and the American Society for Engineering Education, where she is a Fellow. She has been recognized by both organizations for her distinguished service.
Martin earned her doctorate in materials science and engineering from Virginia Tech and her bachelor’s degree in the same field from North Carolina State University.
Since its inception in 2016, the University of Georgia’s Engineering Education Transformations Institute has established itself as a vibrant incubator for engineering education research and instruction. Comprised of faculty, staff, researchers and students from three schools and 15 degree programs in the College of Engineering, EETI seeks to transform engineering education by building social capital and shared capacity around the scholarship of teaching and learning in engineering.
“EETI is the premier model and resource for integrating scholarship and teaching in engineering education worldwide,” said Martin. “I’m looking forward to applying my focus on communities and relationships to help the UGA College of Engineering expand its existing tradition of integrating scholarship and practice, grow the research enterprise, and enhance the reputation and visibility of EETI.”