{{Short description|American academic administrator and engineer (born 1951)}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Harold L Martin.jpg | order = 12th | title = Chancellor of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University | term_start = 2009 | term_end = 2024 | predecessor = Stanley F. Battle | successor = James R. Martin II | order2 = 12th | title2 = Chancellor of<br />Winston-Salem State University | term_start2 = 2000 | term_end2 = 2006 | predecessor2 = Alvin J. Schexnider | successor2 = Donald Reaves | birth_date = {{Birth date|1951|10|22}} | birth_place = Winston-Salem, North Carolina | alma_mater = North Carolina A&T<br>Virginia Tech | profession = Engineer | spouse = Davida Wagner Martin | children = {{small|Harold Martin Jr. <br> Walter Martin}} | blank1 = | data1 = | website = https://www.ncat.edu/about/leadership/chancellor/chancellor-harold-l-martin-sr-bio.php }} '''Harold L. Martin Sr.''' (born October 22, 1951) is an American engineer and educator who is Chancelor Emeritus of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and former chancellor of Winston-Salem State University.
A graduate of North Carolina A&T in electrical engineering, he was the first alumnus to serve as Chancellor of the university. Under his leadership, N.C. A&T has become the nation's largest historically black university, a nationally recognized top-ranked public HBCU and North Carolina's third most productive public research university.
The Harold L. Martin Sr. Engineering Research and Innovation Complex (Opened in 2019), on A&T's Campus, and the Martin-Schexnider Residence Hall (opened in 2012) at Winston-Salem State, have both been named in his honor. Martin has garnered many other awards and honors, including the title of President Emeritus, an Honorary Degree from Wake Forest University, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund's Education Leadership Award and inclusion in the 2015 Ebony magazine Power 100.
== Early life and education== Martin, a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, received both his bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T. He later earned a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1980.<ref name="Martin Bio">{{cite web|title=Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr.|url=http://www.ncat.edu/about/leadership/chancellor/biography.html|website=ncat.edu|publisher=North Carolina A&T|accessdate=29 June 2014|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507212250/https://www.ncat.edu/about/leadership/chancellor/biography.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=H.MartinVitae>{{cite web|title=Harold L. Martin, Sr. Vitae|url=http://sacs.ncat.edu/doclib/Chancellor,%20Harry%20Martin%20vitae,%202009.pdf|website=sacs.ncat.edu|publisher=North Carolina A&T State University|accessdate=29 June 2014}}</ref>
==Career== Martin's career in education began at his alma mater, North Carolina A&T, where he worked in various capacities within the school's electrical engineering department; including serving as dean of the College of engineering from 1989 to 1994. He would later be appointed to the position of Vice Chancellor of academic affairs of the university, where he served from 1994 to 1999.<ref name=ChancellorMartinBio>{{cite web|title=Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr.|url=http://www.ncat.edu/about/leadership/chancellor/biography.html|work=ncat.edu website|publisher=North Carolina A&T State University|accessdate=27 May 2014|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507212250/https://www.ncat.edu/about/leadership/chancellor/biography.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2000, Martin was appointed chancellor of Winston-Salem State University.<ref name="O'Kelly Library">{{cite web|title=Cleon Franklin Thompson Jr.|url=http://www.wssu.edu/cg-okelly-library/services/archives/core/presidents-chancellors/cleon-f-thompson-jr.aspx|work=C.G. O'Kelly Library Archives website|publisher=Winston-Salem State University|accessdate=21 May 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527220729/http://www.wssu.edu/cg-okelly-library/services/archives/core/presidents-chancellors/cleon-f-thompson-jr.aspx|archivedate=27 May 2014}}</ref> Under the Martin administration, the university's enrollment nearly doubled, from 2,796 to 5,556.<ref name=Vtechnews>{{cite web|last1=Nystrom|first1=Lynn A.|title=Harold Martin named Virginia Tech distinguished engineering alumnus|url=http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2010/03/2010-207.html|website=vtnews.vt.edu website|publisher=Virginia Tech News|accessdate=29 June 2014}}</ref> In addition, freshman SAT scores increased by nearly 70 points, and the campus underwent a dramatic physical transformation made possible in part by a $45 Million Higher Education Bond Program in 2000.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=WSSU Archway Magazine|date=Summer 2012|volume=12|issue=2|page=11|url=http://issuu.com/wssuarchway/docs/archway_summer2012_now/11|title=A New Millennium|accessdate=23 May 2014}}</ref> He was also credited with forging stronger working relationships with internal and external constituencies, raising the quality and breadth of academic degree programs, launching programs to improve student retention and graduation rates, and upgrading the campus' technology.<ref name=Vtechnews/>
In 2006, Martin would step down from the leadership of Winston-Salem State University and become senior vice president for academic affairs at The University of North Carolina, General Administration. While there, Martin oversaw the development and implementation of the university's academic mission, including teaching, research, international programs and student affairs.<ref name=ChancellorMartinBio/>
On May 22, 2009, Martin was elected as the twelfth Chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University, making him the first alumnus to serve in the position.<ref name=A&THistory>{{cite web|title=A&T History|url=http://www.library.ncat.edu/resources/archives/history.html|work=Library.ncat.edu|publisher=F.D. Bluford Library-NC A&T State University|accessdate=29 June 2014|archive-date=9 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009191220/http://www.library.ncat.edu/resources/archives/history.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Under Martin's leadership, the university has developed a strategic plan aimed to position the North Carolina A&T to become a premier institution of higher learning and research on a state, national, and international level. The plan entitled "A&T Preeminence 2020," identifies six specific goals including the increase of diversity and research activity within the university.<ref name=preeminence2020>{{cite web|title=Preeminence 2020: Embracing Our Past, Creating Our Future|url=http://www.ncat.edu/about/forms-pdf/strategicplan-preeminence2020.pdf|work=ncat.edu|publisher=North Carolina A&T|accessdate=14 March 2014|archive-date=16 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116095908/http://www.ncat.edu/about/forms-pdf/strategicplan-preeminence2020.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> That plan led the university on a path of steady enrollment growth, reorganization of its academic programs, significant improvement in the academic profile of incoming students, growth in research funding and enhanced performance in its intercollegiate athletics program. With many of the plan's goals already achieved, the university introduced a successor plan in 2018, "A&T Preeminence: Taking the Momentum to 2023," that features new stretch goals, including expanding overall enrollment to 14,000.
In summer 2019, Martin marked his 10th year as chancellor of A&T. Later that fall, the university welcomed its largest student body ever, with 12,556 students from 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 68 foreign nations.
==Awards and recognition== Martin has been honored with numerous awards and recognition, on both a local and national level, over the span of his career. Those honors include the Thurgood Marshall College Fund's Education Leadership Award in 2019, inclusion in the Ebony magazine Power 100 in 2015, selection as a Virginia Tech College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus in 2010<ref name=H.MartinVitae/><ref name=Vtechnews/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Catanoso|first1=Justin|title=What's happened to 2001's 10 to Watch?|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2001/12/31/tidbits.html|accessdate=29 June 2014|work=Triad Business Journal|publisher=American City Business Journals|date=31 December 2001}}</ref> and receipt of an Honorary Degree from Wake Forest University in 2007.<ref name=H.MartinVitae/>
In 2012, the Winston-Salem State University Board of Trustees approved the naming of new residence hall in honor of Martin and his predecessor, Alvin J. Schexnider, who served as chancellor of the university from 1996 until 2000.<ref>{{cite web|title=New Residence Hall at WSSU Named for Two Chancellors|url=http://www.wssu.edu/about/news/2012/new-residence-hall-named.aspx|website=WSSU.edu website|publisher=Winston-Salem State University|accessdate=29 June 2014}}</ref>
==Personal life== Martin is married to his wife Davida Martin ''(nee Wagner)''. Mrs. Martin is the former county attorney for Forsyth County, North Carolina, and together she and Dr. Martin have two sons, Harold Martin Jr. and Walter Martin. Martin is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alpha Brothers currently serving as President or in Leadership of Higher Educational Institutions|url=http://www.alpha-phi-alpha.com/PressNewsDetails.php?newsID=40&newsCat=Announcements|website=alpha-phi-alpha.com|publisher=Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity|accessdate=29 June 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140929140909/http://www.alpha-phi-alpha.com/PressNewsDetails.php?newsID=40&newsCat=Announcements|archivedate=29 September 2014}}</ref>
== Further reading== *{{cite book|last=Gibbs|first=Warmoth T.|title=History of The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College|year=1966|publisher=Wm. C. Brown Book Company|location=Dubuque, Iowa}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{cite web|last=Baldwin|first=Todd|title=Oral Histories- An Interview with Dr. Harold L. Martin Sr.|url=http://lincolnslegacyoralhistories.com/entry/12790211-An-interview-with-Dr.-Harold-L?offset=6&sort=approvedcomments%20DESC,id%20ASC&channel=23721|work=Lincolns Legacy Oral Histories|accessdate=27 May 2014}} *{{US patent reference | number = 5457702 | y = 1995 | m = 10 | d = 10 | inventor = Everett L. Williams, III, Harold L. Martin, Jien-Chung Lo | title = Check bit code circuit for simultaneous single bit error correction and burst error detection }} *{{cite web|last=Chafe|first=William, H.|title=Oral history interview with Lewis C. Dowdy by William Chafe|url=http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/oralhistitem.aspx?i=636|work=Civil Rights Greensboro|publisher=University of North Carolina at Greensbro|accessdate=21 May 2014|date=January 21, 1975}} *{{cite web|last=Pfaff|first=Eugene, E.|title=Oral history interview with Lewis C. Dowdy by Eugene Pfaff|url=http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/oralHistItem.aspx?i=506|work=Civil Rights Greensboro|publisher=University of North Carolina at Greensbro|accessdate=21 May 2014|date=February 21, 1977}}
{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box | before = Stanley F. Battle | title = {{nowrap|Chancellor of the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University}} | after =James R. Martin II | years = 2009-2024 }} {{succession box | before = Alvin J. Schexnider | title = {{nowrap|Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University}} | after = Donald Reaves | years = 2000-2006 }} {{s-end}} {{N.C. A&T leaders |state=autocollapse}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Harold L.}} Category:North Carolina A&T State University leaders Category:Winston-Salem State University Category:North Carolina State University faculty Category:North Carolina A&T State University faculty Category:University of North Carolina administrators Category:21st-century African-American academics Category:21st-century American academics Category:African-American engineers Category:21st-century American engineers Category:North Carolina A&T State University alumni Category:Virginia Tech alumni Category:1951 births Category:People from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Category:Living people Category:20th-century African-American academics Category:20th-century American academics