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Richard F. Martin

Last updated 10/11/2021

Richard F. (Dick) Martin is an active member of the USC Emeriti Center and the Staff Retirement Association, generously donating his time and boundless energy to serve USC’s retiree population. Dick currently sits on the SRA Board, where he is set to begin a two-year term as the group’s Treasurer in addition to his duties spearheading all special events for the SRA and coordinating joint events with the USC Retired Faculty Association. Dick is also instrumental in his role maintaining the data of all SRA members—a huge and complex endeavor, though no job seems too large or too small for Dick to approach it with maximum enthusiasm.

Some of Dick’s highlights as the SRA Director of Special Events for the past five years include visits to the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, the Nixon Library, the Disney Concert Hall, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Egyptian Theatre, and a walking tour of downtown Los Angeles. He has also coordinated several campus visits to see productions of the USC School of Theatre at the Bing Theatre. In each instance, Dick took the initiative in planning and publicizing these events for the members of the SRA. Befitting a man who knows his way about town, Dick has also educated USC retirees in the use of Los Angeles’s public transit system through these many outings.

Outside of the SRA, Dick has volunteered to organize events for attendees of the 2008 conference of the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE). He is also a valued member of the Emeriti Center’s Living History Committee.

An alumnus of the then USC Department of Cinema, Dick returned to the film school as a staff member from 1989 until 2003. During his tenure he was deeply involved in assisting staff, faculty, and especially students with his technical expertise and knowledge of all things cinema. Initially hired in the Sound Department, Dick rose to the rank of Director of Facilities and Operations Management where he made a lasting impact on USC with projects like the remodeling of the TV Annex in the Robert Zemeckis Center for the Digital Arts and the coordination of all equipment for the biannual “First Look” showcase, an important industry screening for USC’s top student filmmakers.

Dick has maintained his close relationship with the School of Cinematic Arts, most recently volunteering his services as a consultant in the planning and construction of the brand new cinema facilities that opened at the end of 2008.