Lerone A. Martin

Dr. Lerone A. Martin is the Martin Luther King Jr. Centennial Professor in Religious Studies and African and African American Studies at Stanford University, where he also serves as Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute. As only the second faculty director in the institute’s history, Dr. Martin leads the ongoing work of editing and digitizing King’s sermons, speeches, correspondence, and unpublished papers, making them accessible to scholars and the public worldwide through a searchable online database.

Dr. Martin’s commentary and writing have been featured on NBC’s Today, the History Channel, PBS, NPR, and C-SPAN, as well as in The New York Times, the Boston Globe, CNN, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He served as an advisor on the PBS documentary series Gospel and currently serves as senior editor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project.

A father of three sons, Dr. Martin brings personal insight to his scholarship on mentorship, calling, and the formation of moral leadership. His research into King’s adolescence deepened his understanding of his own parenting, reminding him that confusion and struggle are not obstacles to greatness but essential elements in its development.

Dr. Martin earned his B.A. from Anderson University, his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. from Emory University. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.