The Excellence Awards highlight the extraordinary leadership and lasting impact of professionals who elevate Community Development across Ohio. This year, we are proud to honor Ken Martin as the recipient of the 2025 Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Award. His work reflects a deep commitment to strengthening communities, advancing innovative programming, and fostering collaboration that makes a meaningful difference statewide and beyond.
This $1,500 cash award originated in 2012 and recognizes a CD Extension professional for significant programmatic strengths, major contributions, and innovative approaches achieved throughout their Extension career. It is named the Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Extension Award, who was one of the first CD professionals hired in 1962, and is presented yearly.
The winner of this award has had responsibilities that have spanned a variety of leadership roles and programmatic emphases since 1991 across three state Extension systems, Penn State, West Virginia, and ultimately Ohio State since 2005. In addition to giving program leadership to energy development, This person’s focus areas have included rural health; rural development; community, economic and workforce development; and, community leadership. Most recently, this person has been involved in health-related Extension work. His efforts have been supported by more than $2.5 million in external funding.
As a professor in the Department of Extension, this person specializes in rural vitality and leadership. Through this role, he mentors students in the Rural Sociology 4500 course, as well as junior faculty members.
The winner also leads efforts in rural health community development programs and works with multidisciplinary efforts to address the opioid epidemic. With rural communities being a strong focus of his, he serves on the farm and rural stress task force, as well as serving as PI and co-PI on several prevention education grants and farm stress grants.
Through his efforts to engage and build capacity in others, this person’s efforts have been multiplied exponentially across Ohio, WV, and Pennsylvania. His efforts have helped support the creation of team and other collaborative endeavors that have impacted communities, the environment, and their residents. He has been recognized for many programming and service efforts spanning his career with a variety of awards from numerous groups at the regional, state and national levels.
Please join me in congratulating the winner of the 2025 Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Award, Dr. Ken Martin, Professor and CD State Specialist for Rural Community Development!
