A Lifelong Teacher
Professor Emeritus Richard Martin still guides the next generation of chemists
Professor Emeritus Richard McKelvy Martin graduated from UC Riverside in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Richard and his wife, Joanne, decided to visit her hometown of Santa Barbara before they moved to the University of Wisconsin for Richard’s graduate studies.
There, the couple learned that a new UC campus would be built next to the Santa Barbara Airport. They found a large site still occupied by WWII military buildings, but the potential was obvious. Richard said, “If I ever become a professor, this is where I want to be.”
After his Ph.D. and two years of research as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, Richard joined UC Santa Barbara in the fall of 1964 as an assistant professor of chemistry — before the chemistry building was finished the following summer. In 1967-68, Department Chair Clifford Bunton asked Richard to serve on the environmental studies formation committee.
“As an assistant professor without tenure, still building and equipping my lab and directing my young research group of grad students, I should have said no,” said Richard. “But for some reason, I agreed.”
At first, no one could be found to teach. With Dr. Bunton’s support, Richard established the first course in environmental studies. The only available space was the Lotte Lehman Concert Hall, where Richard taught “The Physical Environment” from the stage for two years.
“My teaching and research in the Department of Chemistry spanned thirty years,” said Richard, who retired in 1994. “My wife, Susan Emmel Martin, died in 1996. In 2005, I met Penny Rickling, and we married in 2007. We have had a wonderful life together, both in Santa Barbara and in our travels.”
Richard was instrumental in defining two campus departments. Thanks to his bequest to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, future students will have fellowships and the opportunity to help UC Santa Barbara grow.
Published November 2019
As an assistant professor without tenure, still building and equipping my lab and directing my young research group of grad students, I should have said no. But for some reason, I agreed.
Professor Emeritus Richard McKelvy Martin
