Andrew D. Martin

Andrew D. Martin (born July 25, 1972) is an American political scientist, currently serving as the 15th chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis since June 2019. He served as the dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan from 2014 to 2018.

Andrew Martin
Martin in 2024
15th Chancellor of Washington University
Incumbent
Assumed office June 1, 2019
Preceded by	Mark S. Wrighton
Dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan
In office 2014–2018
Preceded by	Terrence McDonald
Succeeded by	Anne Curzan
Personal details
Born	(1972-07-25) July 25, 1972 (age 53) Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.
Education	College of William and Mary (BA) Washington University in St. Louis (PhD)
Academic background
Thesis	Strategic decision-making and the separation of powers (1998)
Doctoral advisor	Lee Epstein
Academic work
Discipline	Political science
Institutions	Washington University in St. Louis University of Michigan

Early life and education

Martin was raised alongside his two brothers in Lafayette, Indiana, where he attended Hershey Elementary School, East Tipp Middle School, and William Henry Harrison High School.^{[citation needed]}

Martin received a Bachelor of Arts from the College of William & Mary in mathematics and government in 1994 and a PhD in political science from Washington University in St. Louis in 1998.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Martin served as an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science in the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1998 to 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Martin returned to WashU as a member of the political science faculty in 2000, two years after earning his PhD there. In 2006, he joined the faculty of the School of Law, where he played a key role in the launch of the Center for Empirical Research in the Law, serving as its founding director from 2006 to 2014. He served as chair of the Department of Political Science from 2007 to 2011 and as vice dean of the Washington University School of Law from 2012 to 2014. In 2013, Martin was installed as the Charles Nagel Chair of Constitutional Law and Political Science.^{[citation needed]}

From 2014 to 2018, Martin served as dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan.^[1]

Chancellorship at Washington University in St. Louis

Martin was appointed WashU’s 15th chancellor by the university’s board of trustees on July 14, 2018.^[2] He started his full-time service as Chancellor-elect on January 1, 2019, and as Chancellor on June 1, 2019.^{[citation needed]}

At his 2019 inauguration, Martin introduced the WashU Pledge, a financial support offering to some eligible Missouri and southern Illinois students. In 2021, he launched the $1 billion Gateway to Success initiative. In 2023, the university adopted a no-loan policy, replacing federal loans with scholarships and grants starting in fall 2024.^[3][4][5]

During Martin's tenure as chancellor, Washington University responded to COVID-19 by initiating a campus shutdown and remote operations earlier than local mandates. The university delayed the start of the 2020 fall and 2021 spring terms, reinstated retirement and salary programs and developed a scalable saliva-based diagnostic test at the School of Medicine.^[6][7][8]

In February 2019, Martin announced the creation of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Equity. The center launched in August 2020 for research, education, and policy focused on race and ethnicity.^[9][10]

In 2024, Martin started a local engagement campaign "In St. Louis, for St. Louis" to create the university's influence in St. Louis. The university extended local offerings through the School of Continuing and Professional Studies and launched the St. Louis Confluence Collaborative. WashU's economic influence on the local areas in fiscal year 2024 was $8.8 billion.^[11][12]

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

On April 13, 2024, a peaceful sit‑in took place on the Danforth campus, resulting in the arrest of 12 students by WashU police during the protest.^[13]

On April 20, 2024, a larger group of students, faculty, and community members set up an encampment outside Brookings Hall.^[14] On April 27, 2024, Martin called local police to address the pro-Palestinian protest. The police crackdown arrested around 100 protestors, including 23 students and at least four employees. Some students and faculty faced disciplinary action. A professor was arrested for interfering with police and later hospitalized with broken ribs and a hand after being tackled by officers.^[15]

WashU students, faculty and community members responded with open letters and petitions to Martin for the university’s response to the protests,^[16] including Martin's decision to evict arrested students from campus housing, per the student code of conduct, and ban faculty who attended the protest from campus. Martin's actions were condemned by United States Representative Cori Bush^[17] and city leadership, while being praised by national pundits^[18] and some elected officials.^[19]

Academics

Martin co-authored An Introduction to Empirical Legal Research with Lee Epstein and Judicial Decision-Making: A Coursebook with Barry Friedman and others.^[20][21] His academic contributions include the development of the Martin-Quinn scores, created with Kevin Quinn, which estimate the ideological positions of United States Supreme Court justices.^[22][23]

In 2021, Martin was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[24]