With a heart for students and the quality of their education experience, Dr. Jay Martinson ’86 is continuing to dedicate his career to ensuring Olivet Nazarene University’s academic excellence. He currently serves as Dean of Online Learning, leading the maintenance and development of online courses and degree programs for undergraduate and graduate students. Whether he is on ground in the classroom, online with a student cohort, designing a new course, or researching new ways to engage and educate students, he works diligently to help make sure ONU remains relevant for the world of today and tomorrow.
In recognition of his outstanding service as an academic leader at ONU for more than 30 years, Dr. Martinson (or Dr. Jay, as students and colleagues know him) was recently honored with the 2024 Willis E. Snowbarger Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Snowbarger spent his entire professional career at ONU, retiring in 1986 as Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“I had huge respect for Dr. Snowbarger and his contribution to ONU, and receiving this award is humbling for me,” Dr. Martinson says. “As a ONU student, I interviewed Dr. Snowbarger and wrote a front page story about his retirement for GlimmerGlass, our student newspaper. His achievements are legendary, and that makes this award even more meaningful for me.”
Deep roots at ONU
Dr. Martinson’s first memory of being on the ONU campus is when his parents dropped him off at Chapman Hall as a freshman in 1982. “My dad said to me, ‘You have to be a man now, and lesson number one is knowing how to tie a necktie,” Dr. Martinson recalls. “My dad was a businessman and wore a tie every day. We stood there together in my room and tied our neckties until I got it right. Then my mom and dad drove away. I didn’t know anyone on campus and thought to myself, ‘Here we go!’”
Since that day, Dr. Martinson has made life at ONU his own. First as a student, then as a professor and chair for the Department of Communication, then as a professor in graduate programs, then leading the University’s growth into the undergraduate and graduate online learning environment during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and now as a dean. And as a parent of ONU students, too.
One of Dr. Martinson’s most beloved mentors was Dr. David Kale, who passed away in 2024. “Dr. Kale was the chair of ONU’s Department of Communication when I was a student,” Dr. Martinson says. “When I was in graduate school, he stayed in touch with me and remained interested in me and my career. When he was leaving ONU, he recruited me to become the new chair. Even though we never taught together, his presence was always in my head. He was my example of what a communication professor should be. He encouraged, inspired, and led with grace in everything he did.”
Family connections because of ONU
Dr. Martinson’s mom and dad met while they were ONU students, so falling in love with a ONU coed seemed like a natural progression to him. He met Jeanette (Westenberger) ’87 at ONU and married her in 1986.
“I proposed to Jeanette at 4:45 p.m. on 12/12/1985 at our nearby Hardee’s restaurant,” he recalls. “I had carefully planned the announcement of our engagement to our friends, too. At that exact time, our friends were gathering in Ludwig for dinner and reading an ad announcing our engagement on the front page of the latest issue of GlimmerGlass. When Jeanette and I walked into Ludwig a little later, with the engagement ring on her finger, everyone was clapping for us!”
Jeanette and Jay are the parents of four children. The two oldest are ONU graduates, and the two youngest are current students. Jeanette is an affiliate professor in behavioral sciences at ONU.
Parent and professor experiences merge
Experiencing ONU as a parent of students has encouraged and affirmed Dr. Martinson’s trust in how the University continues to stay true to its mission while adapting to the world around it. “Our daughter, Lucy, is a pre-med student and in the Honors Program,” he says. “In summer 2024, she served as a research assistant alongside Dr. Nicole Vander Schaaf, her biology professor, in Papua New Guinea. Our son, Tad, is majoring in sports media and covers the Tiger athletic teams. Both are resident assistants in their apartments for the 2024−2025 academic year.”
“ONU is the right school to provide them with hands-on educational experiences, while integrating faith and learning, and providing ways they can grow in their social interaction skills,” he adds. “They are getting the ONU I want them to get.”
As he looks ahead to ONU’s future as a university, Dr. Martinson believes that adaptation is key to how the University will stay relevant. “ONU continues to adapt in important ways, in dramatic circumstances, in cultural change, in finances and funding,” he says. “Even though college looks different than it did when Jeanette and I were students, ONU hasn’t drifted from its mission of ‘Education With a Christian Purpose.’ Everyone on campus and online is wired to encourage and invest in our students. Our mission is our north star.”
To learn more about Olivet’s undergraduate and graduate degree programs, contact the Office of Admissions at admissions@olivet.edu or 800-648-1463.
