Chancellor James R. Martin II
James R. Martin II, Ph.D., was elected the 13th chancellor of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University on June 21, 2024, by a vote of the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors, following his nomination by UNC System President Peter Hans.As chancellor of the most exciting historically Black land grant institution in the nation, as well as a leading, doctoral research university, he holds a singular place in American higher education.
Since joining the university on Aug. 15, 2024, Chancellor Martin has shared a vision for North Carolina A&T's growth from a preeminent institution to an exponential university, driven by new and emergent technologies to greater impact, reach, efficiency and effectiveness.
In the early months of his chancellorship, the university has launched new degree programs and received approval for the state's first bachelor's degree in artificial intelligence and embarked on new research partnerships with federal and state partners and doctoral, research university peers. He has also hired new vice chancellors from backgrounds that include service to universities that hold the Carnegie Foundation's R1-Very High Research Activity designation and that are members of the American Association of Universities.
Martin previously served as vice chancellor for STEM Research and Innovation at the University of Pittsburgh, where he drove transformative initiatives ranging from developing the university's core STEM landscape to leading research strategy and development for Pitt's four regional campuses around Pennsylvania. Focused on enhancing Pitt’s $1.3 billion research portfolio and expanding STEM access, he led collaborations that foster research growth, built innovation ecosystems and connected rural areas to city centers via urban-rural research bridges. As a senior advisor and thought leader, he influenced national action from the White House to major funding agencies to think tanks.
Before the vice chancellor role, Martin served the University of Pittsburgh as the U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering. Under his leadership, Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering achieved unprecedented milestones, logging record research expenditures, doctoral and first-year student enrollment and diversity in faculty and student representation. He also led the Swanson School to best-ever retention and graduation rates and annual giving participation rates, as well as ushering in novel industry and government partnerships, including relationships with national labs.
Before Clemson, Martin served more than two decades at Virginia Tech as a professor of civil engineering and six years as a university center director. He built an international reputation for his work in geotechnical earthquake and risk engineering, research that had a significant impact on national building codes. Leading global field teams following major earthquakes, Martin contributed to field studies in Turkey, Japan and throughout the United States while serving as director of the Disaster Risk Management Institute at Virginia Tech. He has provided international engineering consulting for nearly 100 firms and government agencies on major infrastructure projects.
Martin earned a B.S. in civil engineering from The Citadel. His completed M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering at Virginia Tech. He has received numerous national, state, and university awards for research, teaching, scholarship, and service, including the American Society of Civil Engineer’s (ASCE) Norman Medal, the highest honor for published work in his field. He is also a member of ASCE, the nation's oldest and most prestigious civil engineering society. He was inducted into Virginia Tech's Civil Engineering Department's Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2015, and will be inducted into the Citadel Academy of Engineers in April 2025.
A 21st century academic leader with a keen understanding of higher education's relevance, value and impact today, as well as an exciting vision for what it will become in the years and decades ahead, Chancellor Martin is poised to usher North Carolina A&T into a future filled with opportunity and achievement.
