Marshall Martin is the interim director of the Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station, senior associate director of agricultural research, assistant dean of agriculture, director of the Purdue Univerisity Soybean Center, and a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Iowa State University (1966), and his master’s degree and doctorate in agricultural economics from Purdue University (1972 and 1976, respectively).
Marshall is a specialist in agricultural policy, international trade and technology assessment (especially biotechnology and pesticide use), and decision making in agribusiness. He has received many research and teaching awards and supervised the research of more than 35 graduate students. He has authored several hundred research and Extension publications and three books. Marshall has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in agricultural price analysis, agricultural policy, and agribusiness decision making and research. He has been a speaker for nearly 1,000 Extension programs.
He has served in several administrative roles with the North Central Association of Agricultural Research Directors and USDA-NIFA. He was appointed by the secretary of agriculture to the Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology for the United States Department of Agriculture. He co-chaired a national conference for the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council. For several years, Marshall was a member of the committee on biotechnology of the Division of Agriculture of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges and a member of the operating committee of the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council. For eight years, he served as chairman of three north central region food and agricultural policy research committees (NCT-118, NC-152 and NC-169). He currently serves on the board of directors of the Agricultural Alumni Seed Improvement Association, the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Crop Improvement Association, Indiana Pork Producers Association and is the director of the Indiana Wine and Grape Council. He is the administrative advisor for several multi-state research committees.
Marshall is a member of many academic honoraries, including Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta, Epsilon Sigma Phi and Ceres. He is a past president of the Purdue University Chapter of Sigma Xi. He also is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Agricultural Economics Association, the International Association of Agricultural Economists, the American Economics Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received numerous awards, including:
- The Hovde Award for Excellence in Educational Service to the Rural People of Indiana
- Distinguished Service Award to the Indiana Pork Industry
- Distinguished Service to the Indiana Crop Improvement Association and Seed Industry
- Certificate of Distinction from the Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association
- Block P Award for Service to the Purdue University Department of Bands
- The Special Boilermaker Award from the Purdue University Alumni Association
- Beck’s Hybrid’s Beyond the Fence Award for Service to Indiana Agriculture
- The Outstanding MS Thesis Award from the American Agricultural Economics Association
- Wethersfield High School Academic Hall of Fame inaugural class
- Regional Distinguished International Service Award
- Epsilon Sigma Phi, National Honorary Extension Fraternity
- Award of Merit from Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for his contribution to the Areawide Corn Rootworm Pest Management Project
- Award of Merit for Outreach, Purdue Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta
- Distinguished Extension Program – Group Award, American Agricultural Economics Assocation
- The Quality of Communication Award from the American Agricultural Economics Association for co-editing Agricultural Biotechnology: Issues and Choices
Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Marshall has had extensive international professional experience in several nations including Argentina, Cuba, China, Russia, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, Hungary, Spain and Portugal. He lived in South America for six years and during his Purdue University career has worked in these countries with government, university and private-sector organizations as an agricultural policy and development specialist.