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 in January 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, and has additional appointments in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education and the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. Martinez is the founding director of the Center for Research for Community Impact (CRCI), which is dedicated to conducting high-quality applied research, disseminating evidence-based information, and building capacity among scholars to address the nature, origins, contexts, effects and elimination of disparities in education and health.

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 addressing 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. He is particularly interested in how to harness cultural and community strengths to improve the positive development and success of U.S. and foreign-born Latino youth and their families.

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 in rigorous randomized-controlled trial research. Together with colleagues, his work has garnered federal and international grants totaling more than $48 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 served as the Philip H. Knight Professor in the Department of Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership at the University of Oregon, where he was also the founding director of the Center for Equity Promotion, a federally funded research center. From 2005 to 2011, he held leadership roles as a University of Oregon vice president and vice provost. In addition, he served as a publicly elected member of the Eugene School Board and as a governor-appointed member and chair of the Oregon State Board of Education.

Martinez has taught courses in educational leadership, social determinants of health, cultural adaptation of evidence-based practices, equity and achievement in K-12 education, 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.