Jul 22, 2010 9:04:25 AM

The Division III Management Council has elected College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Commissioner Chris Martin as chair for the 2011-12 term.

Martin, currently the Council's vice chair, will succeed current chair Lynn Oberbillig when her term as chair and as a Council member ends at the conclusion of the 2011 Convention. Martin will serve as chair through the January 2012 Convention. His term on the Council extends through the 2013 Convention.

Since Martin will vacate his vice chair position at that time, the Management Council also elected Redlands Athletics Director Jeff Martinez to replace Martin in that capacity for the 2011-12 academic year.

Martin

Martin is the first active commissioner to be elected as the Division III Management Council chair since the Council's inception in 1997 (former chair and current New England Collegiate Conference Commissioner Del Malloy began his term as chair as the athletics director at Salve Regina before being named commissioner).

Martin became the first full-time commissioner for the eight-member CCIW in July 2002. During his tenure, Martin has formed partnerships with three new corporate partners and four additional sports equipment partners and has played a major role in implementing a strategic plan for the conference. In addition, the CCIW is the only Division III conference that is a member of the NCAA's Champs/Life Skills program.

Martin came to the CCIW after working four years at the NCAA national office, including two as the Division III governance liaison (which includes being the chief legislative liaison for the Division III Presidents and Management Councils).

Before that, he worked for two years as the baseball operations assistant with the San Diego Padres. Martin got his start with the Padres as a public affairs/media relations intern in September 1995 before becoming an executive office intern in June 1996.

In addition to his service on the Management Council, Martin spent four years with the Division III Membership Committee. Martin also served three years as a member of the executive committee for the Division III Commissioners Association before being elected president of that group in January 2009.

Martin has a bachelor's degree in political science from Whittier College and a master's degree in sports management from the University of Richmond.

Martinez

Martinez has been the AD at Redlands since July 2000 and has served on the Bulldogs staff since 1983, including as head athletic trainer and assistant and associate AD. He also coaches the women's golf team. Martinez has been a full professor at Redlands since 1997.

In addition to his Management Council service, Martinez is a former chair of the Division III Championships Committee. He also has chaired the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference athletics administrators group.

While working as an athletic trainer, Martinez was a host athletic trainer for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and served as an associate with the Justin Mobile Sports Medicine Program, working with the medical team for the CART/Fed Ex Indy racing series for 10 years.

Martinez earned his B.S. from Utah State University in 1982 and his M.S. in 1983 from the University of Arizona, where he also served as the football graduate assistant athletic trainer.