Dr. Rex A. Martin

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in history; Carroll College (Helena, MT) in 1973
Master of Letters (MLitt) in modern history; University of St. Andrews (Scotland) in 1978
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in mass communications; Pennsylvania State University (State College, PA) in 2001  

Upon completion of his B.A., Rex Martin served as the head of the federally funded microfilm project at the Montana Historical Society for three years. Returning to the United States in 1978 after obtaining his M.Litt. from the University of St. Andrews, he labored as a free-lance writer, with his work on local history, military history and gaming appearing in publications as diverse as the Pacific Northwesterner, Hoofprints, The General, Xenocogic, and many other periodicals. In 1981, he accepted the position of Managing Editor for the Avalon Hill Game Company (Baltimore, Maryland), the oldest and most successful commercial publisher of board wargames, a post he held for 13 years. Since 1994, besides pursuing his studies on the cultural history of mass-market games, he has worked at a variety of computer/video game studios such as MicroProse, Firaxis, Breakaway Games, and others. In addition, he served as the managing editor of Open Minds Online, a weekly online newspaper for behavioral health professionals. Dr. Martin currently teaches courses in journalism and print communications at Bowie State University. He also serves as the faculty advisor to the university’s student newspaper, The Spectrum. In August 2008 he was awarded second place in the national competition “Best Teaching Practices in Information gathering” by the American Educators of Journalism and Mass Communications at the Chicago conference. Dr. Martin has presented papers at a number of conferences, including the Second International Conference on Edu-Entertainment (1998), “Playing to Win: The Business of Videogames” (Penn State, 2008) and the annual AEJMC conferences. Recently he contributed several entries to the Encyclopedia of Journalism (Sage Publishing, 2009). Currently he is reworking his dissertation (Cardboard Warriors: A Cultural History of American Wargaming, 1958-1998) for future publication.   

Office: Room 272/230, MLK CAC Building
Phone: 301-860-3729
E-mail: rmartin@bowiestate.edu