UC Irvine News Brief: Memorial scheduled for education professor Michael Martinez
He died of lung cancer April 5 at the age of 55.
Family, friends and colleagues of Michael Martinez will gather for a public memorial service at 3 p.m. Friday, May 4, at Mariner’s Chapel, 5001 Newport Coast Drive, Irvine. The UCI professor of education died April 5 at the age of 55. Martinez was a scholar in learning, cognition and intelligence. He wrote many works on these issues, including two influential books, Education as the Cultivation of Intelligence and Learning & Cognition: The Design of the Mind. His newest book, Future Bright: A Transforming View of Human Intelligence, will be published posthumously by Oxford University Press. UCI will honor Martinez’s many contributions at a public recognition ceremony at 3 p.m. Friday, June 8, at the Student Center. Diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2003, Martinez constantly sought new treatments to stave off the disease while continuing his scholarship and service – even taking up new hobbies such as snowboarding and paragliding. He’s survived by his wife of 33 years, Stephanie; daughters Lindy, Kiely, Amy and Hillary; and six grandchildren. The family requests that those who wish to honor his memory donate to the Department of Education’s new Michael E. Martinez Prize for outstanding doctoral research at http://www.uadv.uci.edu/MichaelEMartinezMemorialFund.