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Philip L. Martin College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department of Agricultural Economics Recipient 1993-1994 Professor Martin works in two complex and controversial areas - farm labor issues and immigration analysis. He is internationally recognized as a scholar who can grapple with these difficult issues and make reasonable and practical recommendations. Since his arrival at UC Davis is 1975, Professor Martin has testified more than 60 times before local, state, federal and international organizations including the U.S. Senate and the United Nations. On the national level, Professor Martin was appointed as the sole academic member of the Commission on Agricultural Workers, created by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 to evaluate the impacts of immigration reforms on U.S. farm workers and farmers. Professor Martin guided the establishment of the Commission’s research program and which reported its efforts to the President and Congress in 1993. When Professor Martin first joined the UC Davis faculty, California had just enacted the Agricultural Labor Relations law to reduce farm labor conflict. As a rural human resources specialist, Professor Martin spoke on the new regulatory framework to groups ranging from the League of Women voters to the Farm Bureau. As California’s rural communities grew faster than urban areas in the 1970s, Professor Martin’s interest in the changing employment problems of rural communities inspired his involvement in the UC Davis public service program. He made many service contributions to the National Association of Counties and was selected as a Brookings Institution Fellow in Washington, D.C., where he dealt with rural employment issues. In 1979, farmworkers sued the University of California for conducting an agricultural research and extension program that they believed did not service all of the state’s rural residents. Professor Martin’s respected neutral stature in this mechanization lawsuit was recognized when representatives of both the plaintiff and the University requested his advice and testimony. He helped the UC. Davis public service program hold several workshops on the lawsuit’s issues and co-authored a widely read Wall Street Journal article discussing the issues raised by the lawsuit. After testifying in 1978-79 about illegal immigration, Professor Martin worked with the U.S. Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy by participating in hearings and helping establish its research program. Professor Martin was invited to testify several times before the U.S. Senate subcommittee that developed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. A number of U.S. senators and representatives came to rely on Professor Martin as their principal advisor on immigration issues. Recognized as a credible analyst of controversial immigration and farm labor issues, during the 1980s, Professor Martin delivered over 100 speeches to organizations ranging from the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, to national meetings of migrant assistance organizations, to grower organizations. Internationally, Professor has served as advisor to the Federal Republic of Germany, the International Labor Organization, the Organization for Economic and Cooperative Development, and the European Economic Community. He has traveled widely to assist other countries including Mexico, Turkey, and Japan. |
