Marco Martinez

Marco V. Martinez was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. He earned undergraduate degrees in Biology and Mathematics from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. He later completed a Ph.D. in Mathematics and an M.S. in Statistics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. During his graduate studies, he was a Research Assistant at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS).

Marco’s research focuses on two main areas. He uses mathematical and statistical models to develop strategies for biodiversity preservation (scholarship of discovery). He also studies large educational data sets to identify academic interventions that improve student retention and graduation (scholarship of teaching and learning). He was the inaugural R. Devadoss Pandian Endowed Fellow in the Arts & Sciences at North Central College (2022–2025). Since 2023, he has served as Co-Director of the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM), a national NSF-funded program that supports undergraduate research in mathematics. CURM provides training and grants for faculty to lead academic-year undergraduate research groups, pairing two- and four-year institutions, and has supported hundreds of students and faculty nationwide.

Marco has been instrumental in strengthening the Actuarial Science program at North Central College. He helped students create the Actuarial Science Club (2014) and the Gamma Iota Sigma Chapter, the International Society for Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science, (2018). He coordinated the Actuarial Science major from 2016 to 2021. In 2021, he was nationally recognized by Gamma Iota Sigma as its Faculty Advisor of the Year for his outstanding mentorship of actuarial students. 

In his teaching, Marco cultivates a high challenge–high support environment that encourages perseverance and growth. His work has been recognized with North Central College’s Clarence F. Dissinger Award for Distinguished Teaching (2016) and the Distinguished Mentorship Award (2021). He continues to find joy in helping students build confidence in their mathematical, professional, and personal paths.