Matthew Martens began as interim provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs Feb. 9, 2024, and was appointed provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs on June 1, 2024. Dr. Martens previously served as senior vice provost from 2021-2024 and was associate provost for academic programs from 2016-2021. During his time in the Provost’s Office, he has been instrumental in facilitating MizzouForward, which has resulted in recruiting more than 60 premier scientists and scholars to our campus. During the pandemic, he led the university’s Academic Operations Team as it guided the university’s academic response. Dr. Martens also redesigned the academic program assessment process to be more data-driven and aligned with university accreditation requirements. He led the initial phases of MU’s Higher Learning Commission accreditation activities in preparation for the university’s next comprehensive evaluation in 2025.

In his role as senior vice provost, he managed faculty affairs, including faculty recruitment, hiring, salary and workload adjustment, and the faculty promotion and tenure process. He supervised several units within the Office of the Provost, including the Vice Provost for International Programs, the Vice Provost for Libraries and University Librarian, and the Director of the MU Press. He was also the office liaison to the Vice Chancellor for Operations, Vice Chancellor for Research, Vice Chancellor for IDE, and Vice Chancellor for Finance.

Prior administrative appointments include serving as an associate division director, division director, and associate dean within the MU College of Education and Human Development.

He received a bachelor’s degree from Boston College in 1995, a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina in 1997, and a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Missouri in 2002. Dr. Martens had prior academic appointments at the University at Albany-State University of New York and the University of Memphis before returning to the faculty at MU in 2009.

His primary research interest is health psychology, particularly addictive behaviors. He has been either a principal or co-investigator on multiple federally and foundation-funded studies examining the efficacy of brief motivational interventions at reducing at-risk alcohol use and harmful gambling behaviors. He has over 125 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters to his credit.

Areas of Expertise

• Addictive Behaviors
• Health Psychology
• Sport Psychology