Mirta Martin Is the New Leader of Ferrum College in Virginia

Mirta Martin is the new interim president of Ferrum College in Virginia. She took office on January 2.

Ferrum College, located in rural western Virginia south of the city of Roanoke, enrolls just under 900 students, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 41 percent of the student body.

“I am a ‘people-person’, and I believe in the power of personal relationships, so I am most excited to get to know our people,” Dr. Martin said. “I will spend part of each day strengthening my connections with faculty, staff, community leaders, and alumni – and getting to know students. It is important for me to know them; to know their stories, their hopes and desires, and their needs and challenges.”

Dr. Martin, a native of Havana, Cuba, was president of Fairmont State University in West Virginia from 2018 to 2022. She was president of Fort Hays State University in Kansas from 2014 to 2016. Prior to Fort Hays, Dr. Martin served as the dean of Virginia State University’s Reginald F. Lewis School of Business from 2009 to 2014.

Dr. Martin is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where she majored in psychology and political science. She holds an MBA from the University of Richmond and a Ph.D. in strategic management and leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.