Charles Martinez

Charles R. Martinez, Jr. is the 12th dean of the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Martinez was named dean-designate in July 2018 and began his tenure as dean on January 1, 2019. Martinez holds the Lee Hage Jamail Regents Chair in Education and the Sid W. Richardson Regents Chair. He is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology.

Martinez's scholarly work focuses on identifying factors that hinder or promote the success of children and families from vulnerable and underserved populations. As a prevention scientist specializing in minority education and health disparities, he is committed to translational research -- research that moves evidence-based practices developed in laboratories and clinical settings into communities that often have limited access to such practices, while attending to the potential need for adaptation of such practices to ensure their cultural responsiveness. He is particularly interested in how immigrant Latino families adjust to life in the U.S. and how to better harness culturally specific protective factors to ensure their success in navigating the many challenges associated with immigration.

Martinez has led numerous national and international research projects designed to examine risk and protective factors involved in linking social and cultural factors to education and behavioral health disparities for Latino children and families and to develop and test culturally specific interventions for at-risk families in the U.S. and in Latin America. His work has garnered federal and international grants totaling more than $35 million. Agencies funding his research include the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Prior to joining the University of Texas, Martinez was the Philip H. Knight Professor in the Department of Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership at the University of Oregon, where he also served as founding director of the Center for Equity Promotion. He served as the University of Oregon Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity from 2005 to 2011. In addition, he served as a publicly elected member of the Eugene School Board and was a governor-appointed member of Oregon State Board of Education from 2013 to 2018, including service for two years as chair.

He is a nationally recognized scholar on organizational equity, cross-cultural research, and community engagement. Martinez has taught courses in equity leadership, culturally responsive intervention practices, cultural adaptation of evidence-based practices, equity and achievement, prevention science, and research methods.

A first-generation college graduate, Martinez received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Pitzer College, and his master's degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology.