Dr. Matthew Martinez currently serves as the executive Director of the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project, a nonprofit in Northern New Mexico whose mission focuses on land stewardship and educational outreach. He is a former First Lieutenant Governor of Ohkay Owingeh, an Emmy-award winning documentary film producer and has an established career as an educator.
Dr. Martinez previously served as Professor of Pueblo Indian Studies at Northern New Mexico College where he taught for 10 years courses on Indigenous History and New Mexico History. He previously served as Deputy Director overseeing operations and programming at the Museum of Indian Arts in Culture in Santa Fe, where he remains engaged as a community curator and researcher. Last Fall Dr. Martinez co-authored Deb Haaland: First Native American Cabinet Secretary (Lerner Publishing), a biography geared for young readers in grades 4-8.
Dr. Martinez received his Ph.D. in 2008 from the University of Minnesota in American Studies and American Indian Studies, M.A. in 2000 from Arizona State University in Political Science, and B.A. in Political Science from the University of New Mexico. His life’s work has been dedicated to education and cultural preservation.