David Grier Martin Jr. (born May 24, 1940) is an American retired lawyer, politician, and university administrator. Martin was a candidate for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in 1984 and 1986, losing to

Alex McMillan John Alexander McMillan III (born May 9, 1932) is a North Carolina Republican politician who served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing North Carolina's 9th congressional district from 1985 to 1995. Biography McMilla ...

. Martin later served as Secretary and a Vice President for the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

system and has served as the host of ''North Carolina Bookwatch,'' a public access television show.

Early life and education

Born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1940, Martin grew up in

Davidson, North Carolina Davidson is a suburban town located in northern Mecklenburg and Iredell counties, North Carolina, United States, on the banks of Lake Norman. It is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 10,944 at the 2010 census, and in ...

, where his father,

David Grier Martin David Grier Martin Sr. (November 11, 1910 – April 5, 1974) was the 13th president of Davidson College. A graduate of Davidson College, class of 1932, he served as college treasurer under President Cunningham. He was forty-eight years old when ...

, served as president of

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

from 1958 to 1968. Martin attended Davidson, where he played on the basketball team for

Lefty Driesell Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell (born December 25, 1931) is a retired American college basketball coach. He was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four different NCAA Division I schools, Driesell led the programs of Davidson College, t ...

. After graduating, he was commissioned in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Following completion of

Airborne School The United States Army Airborne School – widely known as Jump School – conducts the basic paratrooper (military parachutist) training for the United States Armed Forces. It is operated by the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 507th Infantry Regime ...

, Martin served in the

United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, are a special operations special operations force, force of the United States Ar ...

. After leaving active duty, he graduated from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Martin established a legal practice in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. In 1984 and 1986, Martin narrowly lost two races for Congress to

. He later served as both the Secretary and a Vice President for the

system. In 1998, he ran for the U.S. Senate, finishing second to

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...

in the Democratic primary. After that race, Martin took on interim leadership positions at

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...

, the

University of North Carolina at Pembroke The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP or UNC Pembroke) is a public university in Pembroke, North Carolina. UNC Pembroke is a master's level degree-granting university and part of the University of North Carolina system. Its history i ...

, The Trust for Public Land, and the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund. Martin writes a weekly column that appears in over 40 newspapers across North Carolina, including ''The Raleigh Telegram'', ''

The Chapel Hill News ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the ''Charlotte Observer''). The paper has bee ...

'', ''The Chatham Journal'', '' The Elkin Tribune'', ''

Mountain Xpress The ''Mountain Xpress'' is an alternative newspaper covering news, arts, local politics, and events in Asheville and western North Carolina, USA. Published each Wednesday in print and online, it has a print circulation of about 29,000. The Mountai ...

'', ''The Pilot'', and ''The Randolph Guide''. Since 1999, Martin has hosted ''North Carolina Bookwatch'', a literary television show on

UNC-TV The University of North Carolina Center for Public Media, branded on-air as PBS North Carolina or commonly PBS NC, is a public television network serving the state of North Carolina. It is operated by the University of North Carolina system, whic ...

, North Carolina’s public television network. He also hosts a weekly radio interview show on 97.9 FM and 1360 AM radio station WCHL in Chapel Hill and is the author of "Interstate Eateries," a guide to local restaurants in North Carolina.

Personal life

He is married and has two adult children, including state legislator

Grier Martin David Grier Martin III (born October 21, 1968) is an American politician and attorney serving as a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly, representing the state's 34th district. His district includes the northern part of Ral ...

. Martin enjoys running and has completed several marathons.Washington Post "What You May Not Know About John Edwards"
/ref>

References

External links

Interstate Eateries

''North Carolina Bookwatch''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, D. G. Davidson Wildcats men's basketball players Yale Law School alumni North Carolina Democrats North Carolina lawyers Living people People from Davidson, North Carolina 1940 births