Biography

Dr. Marcus L. Martin is professor and past chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Virginia.  He held the chair position from July 1996 to December 2006.  Dr. Martin’s Emergency Medicine responsibilities included the adult and pediatric emergency departments, chest pain unit, express care, Pegasus air ambulance, the Blue Ridge Poison Center, paramedic training program, emergency medicine residency program and several emergency medicine fellowship programs. During his tenure at UVA Dr. Martin has served as Assistant Dean, School of Medicine, Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Equity, and Associate Vice President for Diversity and Equity.  On July 25, 2009, Dr. Martin was appointed Interim Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity and on April 1, 2011 Dr. Martin was appointed Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity.

A native of Covington, Virginia, he earned bachelor’s degrees in pulp and paper technology (1970) and chemical engineering (1971) from North Carolina State University and was employed as a production chemical engineer at WESTVACO in Covington, Virginia.  A member of the charter class of Eastern Virginia Medical School and the first African American graduate, he earned his medical degree in 1976.

Dr. Martin was commissioned by the US Public Health Service and later served as general medical officer at the Gallup Indian Medical Center in New Mexico.  He completed emergency medicine residency training at the University of Cincinnati in 1981 and held a series of staff and administrative/teaching posts at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.  He is a founding member of the Board of Visitors of North Carolina State University. Dr. Martin was the first African American to play varsity football at NC State. 

Dr. Martin served as the clinical director of the summer program for underrepresented pre-med students, the Summer Medical Dental Education Program (formerly MAAP).  He was the first African American to head a clinical department at UVA.

With a team of UVA health care providers, Martin traveled to Louisiana in September 2005 and February 2006 to serve the disadvantaged populations – black and white – through medical relief efforts subsequent to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

Dr. Martin established EMCERT (Emergency Medicine Center for Education, Research and Technology) and the Life Saving Techniques course for medical students at UVA using computerized human patient simulation.  Dr. Martin has published widely in journals and has contributed textbook and book chapters in his area of medical expertise.  He was recently selected as one of “the top 100 most influential black graduates of NC State University." In April 2007, Dr. Martin was appointed by Governor Tim Kaine to serve on the Secure Commonwealth Panel and as vice chair of the Virginia Tech Incident Review Panel.

He was a Board Member for 12 years and past president of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).  He is past president of the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors.  He received the 1994 Emergency Medicine Residents’ Joseph F. Waeckerle Founders Award.  He is the recipient of the 2008 SAEM Diversity Interest Group Leadership Award named the Marcus L. Martin Leadership Award in his honor.  Dr. Martin serves as co- chair of the President’s Commission  on Slavery and the University and his office coordinates numerous committees and councils in support of  diversity and inclusion as well as annual Charlottesville Community Health Fair and the annual Community MLK Celebration.  

In service to the University and community Dr. Martin serves on numerous committees and boards including Hospice of the Piedmont, Jefferson School Foundation, Jefferson Scholars Foundation, and Blue Ridge PACE. He also served as the founding vice president of the 100 Black Men of Central Virginia organization whose goal is to close the achievement gap for African American males. He also serves on the board of the Kenan Institute for Engineering Technology and Science. Dr. Martin is the (PI) principal investigator for the NSF grant- funded Virginia-North Carolina Alliance. He leads an alliance of nine Virginia and North Carolina institutions whose goal is to increase the number of underrepresented minority students receiving science, technology and engineering, and math degrees.  

Prior to his arrival at UVA Dr. Martin served on the Pastoral Care Committee at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. At UVA Dr. Martin serves on the Chaplaincy Service Pastoral Consultation Committee. Dr. Martin is the recipient of the Serpentine Society “Ally of the Year Award” 2012, the Charlottesville Tom Tom Festival C’ville  Founders Award 2014, and the John E. Baker Legacy Award 2014. He was an honoree on Sept 21, 2015 during  Men’s Day “Steps of a Good Man” recognition service at Zion Union Baptist Church in Charlottesville.    He is also a recipient of the 2015 UVA Lifetime Learning Alumni and Parent Engagement “Faculty Above and Beyond Award."

Dr. Martin was recognized as the 2015 Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship  Award winner.

Dr. Martin is the lead editor for the books Diversity and Inclusion in Quality Patient Care (Springer International Publishing, 2016) and West Indies Health Care and Disaster Preparedness (Create Space Independent Publishing, 2015.)

Dr. Martin and his wife Donna have four adult children (three graduates of UVA) and five grandchildren.