James Martinez

Dr. Martinez's 30+ years of instructional and leadership experiences include roles in public, private, parochial and boarding school environments. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, a Division of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After working for six years for Rockwell International as a systems engineer on the Space Shuttle Main Engines, Dr. Martinez changed careers and became a classroom teacher for seventeen years. He was fortunate to teach at all levels during these years, from kindergarten to 12th grade. Between 2007 and 2012, he served as a school administrator in both elementary and secondary schools in the Southern California area. As a faculty member, Dr. Martinez prepares future school leaders and develops intervention research studies to support early career teachers/administrators with their efforts to increase student success in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Dr. Martinez completed his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1988, his master's degree in Educational Leadership from California State University, Channel Islands in 2009 and his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from California Lutheran University in 2015.