William Flynn Martin
William Flynn Martin (born October 4, 1950) is an American energy economist, educator, and international diplomat. Martin served as Special Assistant to Ronald Reagan for National Security Affairs, Executive Secretary of the United States National Security Council, and United States Deputy Secretary of Energy during the Ronald Reagan Administration. He was President of the Council of the University for Peace, appointed to the Council by Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan. In 1992, he was Executive Director of the Republican Platform committee under George H. W. Bush. William Martin served for ten years (from 2000 to 2010) as Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee during the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
For other people named William Martin, see William Martin (disambiguation).
William Flynn Martin
Martin was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He achieved his Bachelor of Science from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and his Master of Science from MIT in 1974. His master's thesis was the basis of an article he co-authored with George Cabot Lodge in the March, 1975 Harvard Business Review entitled Our Society in 1985: Business May Not Like It.[1]
William Martin is the recipient of seven letters of merit from Ronald Reagan, received the Order of the Rising Sun in person from Emperor Akihito of Japan, and was commended by Czech President Vaclav Havel for significant contributions to the Czech Republic.In 2023 he received the Distinguished Contribution to Diplomacy Medal of the Czech Republic. Martin received the highest honor of the Department of Energy for contributions in the fields of energy security and science and technology including fathering both the human genome project (1986) and international thermonuclear experimental reactor - ITER (1985). Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette honored Martin’s contributions thirty five year service to the Department of Energy in 2019.[2]
Martin’s perspectives on President Reagan are summarized in a book Reflections on President Reagan and an oral history video. His lifelong experiences with Japan are included in US-Japan Relations and Energy Security (1970-2100).[3][4][5] William F. Martin’s publications have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Harvard International Review, MIT Technology Review, and the Wall Street Journal. He has authored several books on energy, environment, and national security through MIT Press (two books), McGraw-Hill, Trilateral Commission, United States Department of Energy, and the International Energy Agency. His books have been published in Japanese, German, and French.[6]
William F. Martin’s official White House government National Security Council files are available in the Ronald Reagan Library archive
Decorations and notability[edit]
International and United States Governmental Decorations[edit]
Martin’s decorations include The Department of Energy Secretary’s Gold Award, the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan, Gold and Silver Star) and the Distinguished Contribution to Diplomacy Medal (Czech Republic).
Republican Presidential campaigns[edit]
Martin has been part of the campaign of every Republican Presidential candidate since 1988.[26] He has also served as a spokesman/surrogate speaker for the Presidential candidate on matters related to energy and the environment.
1988: First George H.W. Bush Campaign:
Martin served as policy coordinator for the George H. W. Bush Presidential Campaign producing "Issues 88", a compilation of the policies of the campaign under the direction of Charles R. Black, Jr. and James Cicconi. His efforts were commended by George H. W. Bush in a letter that can be seen online.[27]
1992: Second George H.W. Bush Campaign:
Martin served as the Executive Director of the Republican Platform Committee and co-authored the Committee's volume, The Vision Shared: Uniting Our Family, Our Country, Our World. His responsibilities included managing hearings on topics of the Platform in Kansas City, Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., culminating in the Platform discussions and presentation at the Republican National Convention in Houston.[28]
1996: Robert Dole Campaign:
Martin compiled an "Issues Book" for the campaign of Robert Dole building on the methodology and presentation of the 1988 Bush Issues Book. He was also commended by Dole for his effort in the following letter.[26]
2000: George W. Bush Campaign:
Martin prepared a national security transition memo at the time of the election of George W. Bush outlining the first year's national security priorities.[29]
2008: John McCain Campaign:
Martin prepared a national security issues paper and calendar for the campaign of John McCain.[30]
2016: Donald Trump Campaign: Martin provided a national security calendar to the campaign of Donald Trump using a planning methodology he created at the NSC for Ronald Reagan in 1984).[31]
International studies[edit]
William Martin was elected to membership in the Council on Foreign Relations in 1983 and chaired the CFR’s energy security group from 1994 to 2004. In 1987, he was lead author in a Trilateral Commission report on Maintaining Energy Security in a Global Context.[6] He also served as a member of the Board and head of development committee of the World Resources Institute. In 2000, he joined NSC colleague Roger Robinson and the Czech President Vaclav Havel to create the Robinson-Martin security scholars program of the Prague Security Studies Institute.[32] In 2004, he joined the Nobel Prize recipient Joseph Stiglitz to chair a working group on energy for the DPRK for the United Nations.[33] Mohamed Elbaradei, Director General of the IAEA, appointed Martin to coordinate a study of the future of IAEA which resulted in the report in 2008.[34] Long interested in Japan issues, he established the Santa Fe seminar and leaders program to bring distinguished Americans and Japanese together to study the importance of safe nuclear energy.[5] In 2013, he had the honor to be the only foreign participant to testify before Japan’s METI on nuclear power in the post Fukushima era.[5]
Business activities[edit]
Martin co-founded an international energy consulting firm, Washington Policy & Analysis Inc. with Scott L. Campbell in 1988[35] at the Washington law firm of Miller & Chevalier. WPA was later bought by the British company Lloyd's of London Press which later became part of Informa, UK.
Personal life[edit]
Martin has two sons and was married to Jill Wheaton Martin from 1974 to 2008. Nicholas Carl Martin (born August 10, 1982) is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the University for Peace and is President of TechChange,[38] which was recently spotlighted in The Economist[39] Christopher Flynn Martin (born February 7, 1984) is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (BA in Psychology) and Kyoto University (Doctorate of Science in Biology). Previously a researcher at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University[40] Dr. Christopher Martin[41] is now a research scientist at the Indianapolis Zoo.
William Martin married Paule Audebert of Annecy, France in 2013. They have one daughter, Dany Audebert Martin, who was born on March 13, 2019.
Martin is from a pioneering Oklahoma political and oil family. His great-grandfather Dennis T. Flynn was the first US Delegate from Oklahoma Territory to the U.S. House of Representatives, and is the first inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.[42] His grandfather Olney Flynn was mayor of Tulsa and the Republican nominee for Governor of Oklahoma in 1948. One of Martin's ancestors was John Chisum, the Texas cattleman portrayed by John Wayne in the movie Chisum.