She is the Daisy Parker Flory Professor of Sociology Emerita at Florida State University.

Martin was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta her freshman year at University of Alabama in 1959.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from University of Alabama in 1962 with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

[1] Her dissertation was titled Choice among professions: a comparative study of medicine, law, and college teaching.

[2] Martin began working as an assistant professor and research associate at Florida State University in 1969.