SAIS Reports
April - May 2008

SAIS Taps Martin as HNC Washington Office Director

SAIS has named G. Eugene Martin the new director of the Washington, D.C., Office of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies (HNC).

As director, Martin is responsible for student recruitment and admissions, fundraising, budget planning and recruitment of American and international faculty.

"It is testimony to the high standing and distinguished history of our program in Nanjing that we are able to recruit Gene Martin, with his accomplished record as a diplomat and student of China. Johns Hopkins University can look forward to an era of new achievements with the team of American co-director Jan Kiely in Nanjing and Gene in Washington," said SAIS Dean Jessica P. Einhorn.

Martin joins SAIS from the United States Institute of Peace, having worked as executive director of the institute’s Philippine Facilitation Project in the Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution.

A retired U.S. Foreign Service officer, Martin focused much of his career on China. His final U.S. State Department appointment was as deputy chief of mission in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Earlier, he was consul general in Guangzhou. Trained in both Cantonese and Mandarin, Martin also served in Taiwan and Hong Kong. His other overseas postings included assignments in the Philippines, as deputy chief of mission and as a political military officer, and in Burma, as a consular officer.

"Since my college days, I have focused on understanding China. As the director of HNC’s Washington Office, I now have the opportunity to facilitate Sino-American understanding and cooperation," Martin said. "After a diplomatic career concentrated on China, I am delighted to promote academic cross-cultural experiences that will build a durable foundation for relations between China and the United States in the 21st century. In addition, the center’s requirement that students take courses in their target language recognizes that only through linguistic competence can they truly comprehend the other culture."

During assignments in Washington, D.C., Martin was special assistant to the deputy secretary of State; special assistant to former SAIS Dean Paul D. Wolfowitz, then-assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs; deputy director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs; Burma desk officer; and a congressional fellow.

Raised in India, Martin received his bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Kalamazoo College in Michigan. He completed graduate work in international relations, with a focus on China and East Asia, at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Martin said he looks forward to working with HNC co-directors Kiely and Huang Chengfeng as well as colleagues at SAIS and Johns Hopkins "to ensure the Hopkins-Nanjing Center remains the preeminent source of a new generation of Chinese and American leaders."

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