Obituary

William Martin
1933-2020

Professor Emeritus of Agricultural and Resource Economics at The University of Arizona, died Friday, September 18, 2020.

Bill's professional acclaim was an important factor in his UA department's development to national prominence. Bill was born on April 12, 1933, in Modesto, California to Marion Augustus Martin and Dorothy Garnett Martin. In 1942 the family moved to a small peach and, later, dairy farm near Modesto. Bill entered the University of California-Davis in 1950, majoring in agricultural economics. He graduated in 1954, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in August later that year. Bill attended Officer Candidate School and as Lieutenant, jg, was assigned to a heavy attack bomber squadron in Sanford, Florida. He served as a navigator/bombardier on the AJ Savage aircraft, a carrier-based bomber designed to carry "fat boy" atom bombs. Bill's squadron deployed aboard aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean region. Discharged November 1957, Bill enrolled in the University of California-Berkeley in January 1958 to study for his Ph.D. in agricultural economics. He joined the UA faculty as an Assistant Professor in January 1961, where he taught both graduate and undergraduate students.

Over the following 28 years he published award-winning research that challenged conventional wisdom in his profession and resulted in more enlightened public policy. The American Agricultural Economics Association elected Bill a 1986 Fellow for his exemplary career, noting that although some of his research on water issues had caused controversy, Bill "held firmly to presenting the economic facts as well as they can be determined."

In 1983 Bill married Jean Cochran Rush, who survives, as does his sister, Ann O'Leary (Joseph) and sister-in-law, Joli Martin. His brother, Arthur Martin died in 2015. Bill leaves behind a family of thirty-five whom he loved deeply and of whom he was very proud. Son, Jon Martin; daughter, Jane Martin (Robert Vint) and daughter, Amy Martin survive. Another son, Tom Martin, died in 2018. Bill's four stepsons and two stepdaughters and their spouses, Nora Beckmann (Philip), Walter Lane (Karen), Benjamin Rush, Samuel Rush (Catherine Damon), Joseph Rush (Pauline) and Margaret Miller survive, along with 16 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. No public memorial service will be held during the Covid-19 pandemic.