2020 College of Veterinary Medicine Distinguished Alumnus — Non-Private Practice
The Non-Private Practice Award goes to Lieutenant Colonel Robert Martin, ’00. A member of the US Air Force, Martin served in Iraq as the Multi-Division North Veterinarian for all of Northern Iraq and in Afghanistan as the Public Health Chief for the NATO mission in Kabul.
Martin is from Lebanon, Tennessee. After graduating from Franklin High School in 1980, he served four years in the Air Force as an A-10 mechanic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He returned to Knoxville to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. He spent a few years in private practice before returning to Air Force with a commission as a Public Health officer.
Martin’s twenty-year military career spanned assignments in California, Texas, Utah, and Florida, and include four deployments to Central Asia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Since his retirement in 2019, he and his wife Shannon traveled coast to coast in their RV before returning home to the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. They are enjoying the mountains while pursuing careers in education, small business, and volunteer work with the National Park System.
“I can finally say after a long and blessed career all over the country and the world, we’re finally glad to be home to stay,” says Martin.