Biography
Andrew D. Martin was appointed WashU’s 15th chancellor by the university’s Board of Trustees on July 14, 2018.
At his inauguration in 2019, Chancellor Martin cast a vision for elevating WashU’s academic distinction, providing broader access to WashU’s world-class educational experience, and deepening the university’s partnerships and impact in the St. Louis region. That vision was translated into “Here and Next,” a bold strategic plan for WashU’s next era of impact, launched in October 2022.
Chancellor Martin’s first major initiative from Here and Next is “Make Way: Our Student Initiative,” a fundraising effort that will remove obstacles to success, provide transformational scholarships and fellowships, and allow all WashU students the personalized support they need to thrive. Make Way builds on the momentum of the university’s WashU Pledge – a commitment to cover the costs of a WashU education for outstanding lower-income students from Missouri and Southern Illinois – and of “Gateway to Success,” a $1 billion investment in student support that allowed WashU to shift to need-blind admissions in 2021.
Martin, who also is a professor of political science, law, statistics and data science, served from 2014-2018 as dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan. Previously, he served in various positions at WashU, including as the Charles Nagel Chair of Constitutional Law and Political Science at the School of Law, vice dean of the School of Law, founding director of the Center for Empirical Research in the Law, and chair of the Department of Political Science in Arts & Sciences. Throughout his career in higher education administration, Martin has taught courses in judicial decisionmaking and political methodology and mentored numerous graduate and doctoral students. In recognition of his teaching and mentorship, Martin received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at WashU in 2011 and the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Washington University Alumni Board of Governors in 2013. In 2021, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Along with numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, Martin is the author of “An Introduction to Empirical Legal Research,” which he co-authored with Lee Epstein, the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor at WashU in 2014; and “Judicial Decision-Making: A Coursebook,” which he co-authored with Barry Friedman and others in 2020. Throughout his career, Martin has received research funding from many organizations, including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.
Martin earned his Ph.D. in political science from WashU in 1998 and his A.B from the College of William & Mary in mathematics and government in 1994. He and his wife, Stephanie S. Martin, are the parents of a daughter, Olive, and together they live in St. Louis, Missouri.