Jean Martin (sociologist)
Jean Isobel Martin FASSA was an Australian sociologist who was a pioneer of the discipline in Australia. Many of her works examined the role of immigrants in Australian society. Her academic career "spanned teaching and research appointments in seven Australian universities".
Early life and education
Martin was born in Melbourne to Elizabeth and David Craig. Her father was a civil servant born in Scotland. She grew up in Sydney, attending Abbotsleigh before going on to attend the University of Sydney. She graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1943 and Master of Arts in 1945, studying anthropology under A. P. Elkin; she was awarded the University Medal and won first-class honours. Martin undertook further studies at the London School of Economics and University of Chicago, eventually receiving a Ph.D. from the Australian National University in 1954.Academia
Martin lectured at the University of Sydney until the birth of her first child, after which she worked part-time and often carried out unpaid research. In 1965, she was appointed as the inaugural professor of sociology at La Trobe University. She resigned due to ill health in 1974, subsequently taking up a senior fellowship in the Research School of Social Sciences at Australian National University.Martin was a foundation member of the Sociological Association of Australia and New Zealand in 1963 and served as the organisation's president from 1969 to 1971. She served on the social studies committee of the Australian Population and Immigration Council and was a member of the Social Welfare Commission's research advisory committee. She also contributed to several parliamentary inquiries and was a consultant to the 1974 Royal Commission into Human Relationships. In 1971, she was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.