Inducted
2013
Degrees
- B.S., Chemical Engineering, West Virginia University, 1959
A first-generation college student, Julian Martin earned a degree in chemical engineering from West Virginia University in 1959. He was elected to the student legislature, Sphinx Senior men’s honorary, president of Wesley Foundation and Sigma Theta Epsilon Methodist fraternity.
Inspired by John Kennedy’s call to public service, Martin left engineering and became West Virginia’s first Peace Corps volunteer. He went on to a career in teaching and became WVU’s first full-time foreign student advisor.
Martin served as a director of the Regional Council on International Education, the Committee of Returned Volunteers, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Kanawha State Forest Foundation. He currently serves as director of the West Virginia Environmental Education Association, which recognized him in 2009 for Outstanding Achievement in Environmental Education; the West Virginia Labor History Association; and the West Virginia American Civil Liberties Union. He was also recognized as Grassroots Organizer of the Year in 1999 by the West Virginia Environmental Council.