Sociology’s Martin given emeritus status

Sociology’s Martin given emeritus status

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

William Martin was appointed professor emeritus of religion and public policy and professor emeritus of sociology at the Sept. 15 meeting of the Board of Trustees.

A member of the Rice faculty since 1968, Martin had been the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Professor of Religion and Public Policy and professor of sociology before his emeritus appointment. He served as chair of the Department of Sociology during 1983-86, 1989-94 and 1998-99 and as interim chair during 2003-04.

He remains a senior fellow at Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, where he plans to continue writing and organizing programs on the impact of religion on public policy and on ways to reduce the harms associated with drug abuse and drug policy.

A graduate of Abilene Christian University, from which he received B.A. and M.A. degrees in biblical studies, Martin also has a B.D. from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in religion and society from Harvard University.

His research interests have ranged from criminology and drug policy to religious fundamentalism and its impact in the political arena. Martin was one of the first academicians to give serious attention to religious broadcasters and the “Electronic Church.” His books include “With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America” – the companion volume to the PBS mini-series of the same name, for which he served as chief consultant – and “A Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story,” regarded as the most authoritative biography of the famed evangelist.

Martin received awards for superior or excellent teaching at Rice so many times that he was awarded the George R. Brown Life Honor Award for Teaching in 1985, which made him ineligible for most other teaching awards at Rice.