Michael E. Martinez

Michael Edward Martinez is Professor of Education at the University of California, Irvine. He teaches courses on learning and cognition, and on intelligence, at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

A former high school science teacher, Dr. Martinez received his Ph.D. in educational psychology from Stanford University in 1987. He subsequently joined the research staff of the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, where he developed new forms of computer-based testing for assessment in science, architecture, and engineering. This work resulted in two U.S. patents.

At UCI, Dr. Martinez conducts research primarily on the nature and modifiability of intelligence. He has published in such journals as the Educational Psychologist, the Journal of Educational Measurement, and the Journal of the American Society for Information Science. His first book, Education as the Cultivation of Intelligence, was published in 2000. A second book, Learning and Cognition: The Design of the Mind, was published in 2009.

While a faculty member at UC Irvine, Dr. Martinez was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of the South Pacific in the Fiji Islands (1994-95). He served as Program Director for the National Science Foundation (2001-02) where he managed the NSF's role in the Interagency Educational Research Initiative (IERI). His honors include appointments as College Board Visiting Scholar (2002-03), Mellon Visiting Scholar at Columbia University (2003-04), Cambridge University Visiting Scholar (2009), and the APA Presidential Commendation for Contributions to Psychology (2003).

Michael E. Martinez serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Education and is tasked with the oversight of academic programs. Dr. Martinez is currently the Division 15 (Educational Psychology) representative to the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives and a member of the Division 15 Executive Committee.