Dr. Ethel Austin Martin graduated from SDSU in 1916 and went on to do graduate work at Columbia University and the University of Chicago. She taught at several institutions before joining the National Dairy Council in 1929, where she served as Director of Nutrition Services until her retirement. Dr. Martin was a distinguished nutritionist who was instrumental in developing research grant programs, instituting nutrition conferences, founding journals, and writing several nutrition textbooks.

Before her death in 1993 at age 100, she established an endowment at SDSU with the ultimate objective of providing for a permanent professorship to ensure continuing high-level instruction in the science of nutrition. Dr. Martin's goal was realized in 1997, when the Ethel Austin Martin Chair in Human Nutrition was established and subsequently filled by Dr. Bonny Specker.


Purpose
The purpose of the E.A. Martin Program in Nutrition is to advance knowledge in the science of human nutrition through a multidisciplinary approach, to encourage practical applications in improving human health, and to offer professional enrichment in nutrition for all students, faculty and staff at SDSU.  The advancement of knowledge in the science of human nutrition is takes place through both research and educational programs using a multidisciplinary approach.

The E.A. Martin Program advances nutrition knowledge with these campus activities:

* Active research projects both within the program, as well as collaborative efforts with other investigators from SDSU and the region. (To learn more, see On-going Research.)

* Financial support for pilot projects is provided to faculty at SDSU who propose collaborative nutrition projects that utilize a multidisciplinary approach. (To learn more, see Pilot Projects.)

* Educational programs such as formal courses, as well as support for invited seminar speakers. The annual E.A. Martin Distinguished Lecture in Human Nutrition has been a long standing tradition at SDSU, bringing in world-renowned speakers in the field of human nutrition. (To learn more, see Lectures and Seminars.)

For information on the annual Children's Environmental Health Seminar, sponsored by the Ethel A. Martin program, please click here:
2nd Annual Children's Environmental Health Seminar Information