Harold Martin, Chancellor, NC A&T State University

The Path to R-1

R-1 Universities are the top research universities in the nation. R-1 universities foster workforce and economic development by attracting top-tier talent and producing cutting-edge research that feeds local industry through technology transfer. This talent also meets the needs of existing employers and is a significant factor in attracting new, technology-dependent companies to the region. Currently, the Piedmont Triad does not have a university with an R1 status. Chancellor Martin will tell the story of the journey and the steps ahead.

Harold Lee Martin Sr., Ph.D., was elected the 12th chancellor of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University on May 22, 2009. Martin brought more than 30 years of transformative leadership experience in higher education to the role. He is the first alumnus to serve as the university’s chief executive.

Martin’s leadership has been distinguished by a focus on long-range strategic planning and tactical leadership that have dramatically improved North Carolina A&T’s standing among the nation’s land-grant, doctoral research universities, as well as among historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU). The university has expanded its research contracts and grant funding, boosted its status as one of North Carolina’s top three public research institutions, increased endowment holdings by more than 150% and increased enrollment to be the nation’s largest HBU.

Martin was heralded as an education and business thought leader in TIME magazine’s August 2020 edition of The Leadership Brief. In 2019, he was honored by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund with the Education Leadership Award, and in 2017 he was named America’s most influential HBCU leader by HBCU Digest, which came on the heels of him being named one of the Triad Business Journal’s 2016 Most Admired CEOs. In 2015, Martin was named to the EBONY Power 100

Prior to his election as chancellor of N.C. A&T, Martin was senior vice president of academic affairs for the University of North Carolina System. He also served as 11th chief administrator/seventh chancellor of Winston-Salem State University and in several administrative posts at A&T including vice chancellor for the Division of Academic Affairs, dean of the College of Engineering and chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering.

The Winston-Salem, North Carolina, native received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from A&T and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Martin and his wife Davida, the former county attorney for Forsyth County, North Carolina, have two adult sons and five grandchildren.

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