by Christopher Cumo

The Ohio Journal of Science, June 2010

Wayne Dudley Martin, age 88, Professor Emeritus of Geology at Miami University in Oxford, OH, where he served in various capacities for 57 years, died 17 April 2009 in Woodland Manor in Oxford of bone marrow cancer. The Ohio Geological Survey honored Martin with the Mather Medal on 14 October 1991 in recognition of his contributions to the knowledge of the geology of Ohio. Martin received the Outstanding Educator Award from the Eastern Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists on 21 September 1992. The Department of Geology at West Virginia University in Morgantown bestowed the Distinguished Alumni Professional Achievement Award upon Martin in 1995 and inducted him to its Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1998. Joining The Ohio Academy of Science in 1954, Martin affiliated with the Geology Section and was elevated to Fellow in 1958.

Born 22 November 1920 in Watertown OH, Martin was the son of Dudley and Lota (McGrew) Martin. He gravitated to geology as a boy, when he explored the sandstone caves and helped his uncle on the oil derricks of southeastern Ohio. Martin attended elementary school in Watertown and high school in Waterford, OH. Upon graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1940, being only 19 years old. Stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the USS Maryland battleship as a machinist mate, Martin witnessed the Japanese attack on the naval base, being proud thereafter of his association with Pearl Harbor on that fateful day. Entering the Navy's V-12 Officers Training Program, he studied at the University of Minnesota in 1943 and the University of Notre Dame in 1944.

The Navy promoted Martin to Ensign in 1945, stationing him aboard the USS Idaho battleship. Three days after joining the ship the Japanese surrendered, ending World War II. Martin remained in the Navy Reserve, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and retiring in 1958.

He received a B.S. in geology from Marietta College in 1948 and an M.S. in geology from West Virginia University in 1950, writing his thesis on "The Petrology of the Upper Marietta and Hundred Sandstone of Southeastern Ohio." Martin received a Ph.D. in geology from The University of Cincinnati in 1955, writing his dissertation on "Hockingport Sandstone (Late Carboniferous) of Southeastern Ohio." While a graduate student Martin discovered a fossilized aglaspid at Stonelick Creek, OH. The find established that the arthropod had survived the Cambrian extinction. Martin's professor named the organism after the discoverer: Neostrabops martini. Martin was an instructor of geology at Bowling Green State University (1951 and 1952). He then joined the faculty in the Department of Geology at Miami University where he rose in the ranks (1952-1986) and retired with the rank of professor in 1986. During his tenure at Miami University he directed 65 graduate theses. In 1992 the geology department at the university created the Wayne D. Martin Field Fund to give students scholarships to conduct field research. An instructor at the Geology Field Station in Dubois, WY (1953-1985), he later directed the institute (1960-1985). Martin was a beloved teacher. Upon his retirement he received dozens of letters from former students wishing him well. So touched was he that Martin replied to each letter.

With research interests in the Cincinnatian Series limestones, the Wind River Basin of Wyoming and the Dunkard Basin Geology, Martin was an expert in the geology of a portion of the Rocky Mountains. He authored nine publications. Among them is an Ohio Geological Survey summary of the research he and his students undertook on the petrology and regional geologic significance of the Dunkard Group sandstone. An advocate of field research, Martin led outings to formations in Ohio and elsewhere. He made it a practice to sit atop outcrops of rock during field trips. Students learned that these outcrops merited scrutiny. In his honor Miami University maintains the Wayne D. Martin Sedimentary Rock Collection, an invaluable research and teaching tool.

He was a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, the Masonic Lodge since April 1946, three York Rite Lodges soon thereafter, and the Oxford Kiwanis Club since 1960. In professional associations he held membership in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (president, East Central Section, 1957), the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists (vice president, 1979-1980; president, 1980-1981, Great Lakes Section), the Geological Society of America (fellow), the Society of Sedimentary Geology, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Wyoming Geological Association, the International Association of Sedimentologists, and an honorary member of the Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists. In honorary societies he was a member of Sigma Gamma Epsilon and the Miami University chapter of Sigma Xi (vice president, 1981-1982). Martin was a certified professional geologist and a certified petroleum geologist.

So devoted to geology was Martin that his widow described it as his hobby. Martin was a quiet, thoughtful man. In his off hours he made pen sets and wind chimes. Martin mounted the pen sets on the wood of Maclura pomifera, known as Osage orange. To the wood Martin added an oncolite of a 50 million year old fossil snail that he had collected near Dubois, Wyoming. Martin enjoyed gardening and was an avid fisherman.

Predeceased by brothers Orville and Thurston, sisters Pauline Martin, Ismay Keaton, Ethel Quimey and Laura Smith, and daughter Linda Sue Schnipper, Martin is survived by wife Helen L. (Kisker) Martin, whom he had married 6 June 1952 in Cincinnati. Mrs. Martin resides in Oxford. Also surviving is daughter Ann Carol Crowell of Naples, Florida.