Dial Martin, Ph.D.
Congratulations to Dial Martin who has been named to the Hall of Honor in the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dr. Martin is the recipient of the 1998 COALS Alumni Award.
During the Fall of 1992, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences established an Outstanding Alumni Award Program to recognize and honor its former students for their outstanding leadership and significant contributions to agriculture and life sciences. Over the past five years, twenty individuals have been recognized with this special honor.
After graduating from Texas A&M with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in entomology in 1939 and 1942, respectively, Dr. Martin served in the United States Army as a captain with duty in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. Following his military service, he received a Ph.D. in entomology from Iowa State University in 1950.
Dr. Martin served as a faculty member in the Texas A&M Department of Entomology from 1939 through 1957, rising in the ranks from instructor to professor. During this time, he was recognized as an outstanding teacher and research scientist and made many important contributions in crop protection.
After leaving Texas A&M, Dr. Martin served as a research scientist, laboratory director and administrator with the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service for twenty-one years where he developed improved methods for controlling the pink bollworm, boll weevil and cotton bollworm. He also led research that developed more resistant varieties of cotton to major insect pests, improved gin machinery for eliminating pink bollworms in stored cottonseed, and for sterilizing male bollworms.
Upon retiring from the USDA in 1981, Dr. Martin returned to the Bryan/College Station community where he and his wife, Eva, have become active leaders in the university, church and community. He currently serves as chairman of the Department’s Development Committee and has made a significant gift to the Entomology Department.
Dr. Martin’s nomination summarized his service as follows, “It is this type of dedication with a history of continual significant contributions to society and Texas A&M University throughout his career and his retirement” that epitomizes the qualities of an Outstanding Alumni.
This honor recognizes those alumni who distinguish themselves by reaching a significant level of accomplishment and who possess the highest standards of integrity and character which reflect positively and enhance the prestige of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. The awardees were honored during the Fall 1998 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Awards Convocation on Friday, September 11, 1998. Each received a framed alumni medallion, and their names were placed on a plaque displayed in the Jack K. Williams Administration Building in the Office of the Vice Chancellor and Dean.