Louis Martini
Hall of Fame Class of 2020
For over 30 years, Louis Martini has devoted his career to supporting veterans education and adult learning at Thomas Edison State University (TESU), New Jersey’s only senior public institution with the primary mission of serving adults.
Martini has forged exceptionally strong relationships throughout the voluntary military education and veteran education community, both with governmental officials and with other educational institutions focusing on what is most beneficial for military and veteran students. His ability to build effective organizations and partnerships with both individual members and institutions which have competing demands has enhanced the practice of adult education for military and veteran students.
Since joining the university in 1984, he has created a number of TESU initiatives that have helped service members achieve their academic goals. His work with the U.S. Army and Navy help to develop career-oriented degree plans and utilized credits for experiential learning which led to the creation of the Army Degree Builders program, the Navy Distance Learning program and the Navy Submarine nuclear program.
Martini has been instrumental in the university’s development of new and innovative programs for active duty and veteran personnel. From counseling, evaluating and admitting military and veteran students to the development of distance learning programs and beyond, to his current role as associate vice president of the Office of Military and Veteran Education, he continues to work with university leadership to assure that policies and procedures best service this population. In addition, he personally handles all academic issues involved in marketing and student services.
Since 2009, he has worked with the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) in helping veteran students pursue career paths in the energy field by combining military education, occupational skills and PSEG training to help veteran students earn degrees and garner job promotions.
In 2012, he was selected as one of 12 individuals to serve on a Presidential Appointment Task Force during the Obama administration to set policies for military and veteran education and VA Chapter 33. In 2014, he was instrumental in launching TESU’s military and veteran portal, which has enabled more than 5,000 military service members and veterans to understand how their military training can be transferred and applied as credit to a college degree, view potential degree programs aligned with their training and estimate the cost of their education before they apply.
Martini has served on several committees for the National Association of Institutions for Military Education Services (NAIMES) as chair of the membership and the policies and issues committees. As the president of NAIMES from 2012-2014, he was instrumental in promoting several initiatives and helped the Chief of the U.S. Department of Defense Voluntary Education Program by guiding her decision making, resulting in new DoD policy.
He has served as a member of the Council of College and Military Educators (CCME) since 1987 and a board member since 2002. He is the longest-serving CCME board member and was elected president in 2008. He presently serves CCME as Historian and Symposium Event Planning Manager.