UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With a $50,000 commitment, 1987 Penn State administration of justice alumnus Robert Martin and his wife, Terese, have created the Martin Family Criminology Enrichment Fund in the College of the Liberal Arts. Intended for students majoring in criminology, especially those interested in a career in corporate security, the fund will help students afford internship experiences.

A Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, native, Martin said he looked for a college with a good criminal justice program. After attending another university for a year, he realized Penn State had a more dynamic program as well as an enhanced student experience. Like many students in administration of justice (now known as criminology), Martin said he considered a career in law or law enforcement, but a variety of experiences led him in a completely different direction, beginning with an alumnus who visited one of his classes to talk about his career.

“This sharp young professional presented himself in a navy-blue suit, a white shirt, a red tie and shiny black shoes,” Martin remembered. “He talked about his job as a security supervisor at Johnson & Johnson, and I thought to myself, ‘This could be an interesting career path.’”

A year later, Martin met another Johnson & Johnson security supervisor — also a Penn State alumnus — at a Penn State career fair.

“I told him I remembered his colleague who came to my classroom the year before,” Martin said. “He told me Johnson & Johnson had really good success with Penn State students who come to work for the company in this role, so I gave him my resume.”

During his summer internship prior to his senior year, Martin took an unpaid position with a public defender’s office in his hometown. Still needing funding to buy books for classes, however, he worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift as a security officer for a private community in the Poconos.

“The job in the public defender’s office gave me a window into the world going on around me, so it wasn’t wasted time, but I couldn’t wait to put on my uniform and go to my other job in the evening,” Martin said. “I felt like I had a real sense of purpose. I felt like I had an important role. By the end of the summer it was like I had two internships, and the unique opportunity to compare my experiences in thinking about a future career path.”

After graduating, Martin worked for a short period at a retail firm.

“I was basically chasing shoplifters up and down Market Street in Center City, Philadelphia when I got a call from a Johnson & Johnson security manager who had received my resume,” Martin said. “The phone call led to a job with Johnson & Johnson and a 36-year career in corporate security.”

In a full-circle moment, Martin was invited back to Penn State to visit the same class where he first heard about careers in corporate security.

“This time, I was the one wearing a navy-blue suit, a white shirt, a red tie and shiny black shoes,” he said. “I told the students the story about how I used my Penn State connections and my education to make myself a good candidate for the role at J&J.”

Now head of corporate security at Spark Therapeutics Inc., a Philadelphia-based biotechnology company, Martin said he is grateful to Penn State for an undergraduate experience that led to a successful and satisfying career. Wanting to “give back,” he joined the Sociology/Criminology Board of Visitors in the College of the Liberal Arts in 2021, and he recently created the Martin Family Criminology Enrichment Fund, named for his wife, Terese, and their three sons, one of whom is a 2022 graduate of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business and another who will start his education at Penn State this fall.

“Everything that has happened to me in my career has been with the support of my family,” Martin said.

Though Terese is not a Penn State alumna — she graduated from Drexel University and pursued a career as an interior designer — she said she is very invested in the University and fully supported their establishing the enrichment fund.

“A Penn State education provides opportunities which I believe are incomparable to other colleges,” Terese said. “The alumni support provides a strong return on investment for students. Directing our philanthropy to the College of the Liberal Arts is one way we can give back and provide continued support to educating young people. We have always put education first when it came to our three sons, and we wish to provide opportunities to other families.”

Professor of Sociology and Demography Michelle Frisco, head of the Department of Sociology and Criminology, said, “I am so grateful for this generous gift from Bob and Terese and for the time that Bob devotes to being a member of our department’s Board of Visitors. The Martin family’s financial support and involvement in the academic careers of our undergraduate students will help shape the next generation of private security specialists.”

Martin hopes the fund will open the door to students who might find his industry as fulfilling as he has.

“This enrichment fund is my way of encouraging young people to think about the private security industry as a career path,” he said. “Had I not had internships and other experiences at Penn State that triggered this interest, I probably would have had a completely different career. Internships expose students to career possibilities they might not have thought about otherwise.”

Gifts like the Martin Family Criminology Enrichment Fund advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.