Maritza Martinez

Maritza Martinez retired in 2021 after serving as the fifth Director of the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at the University at Albany, SUNY. She served the EOP at the State University of New York system for 30 years and is a proud protégé of legendary EOP Director, the late Dr. Carson Carr Jr., having been under his tutelage for 23 of those years. Maritza is a graduate of Fordham University and the University at Albany and is a success story from the Frederick Douglass Projects of the upper west side of New York City. A first-generation college graduate herself, she is the proud descendant of Puerto Rican parents, and the proud mother of three. 

In her career, Maritza has been a recipient of both the 2001 Chancellor and the President’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service, New York State Governor’s Hispanic-American of Distinction Medallion, and the 2012 FBI Director Robert Mueller III’s Community Service Award. She is an alum of the Albany FBI Citizens’ Academy and serves on their Human Trafficking Task Force, as well as Albany Police Department’s Citizen Police Review Board (CPRB). 

Maritza is involved in her community and took the lead in 2010 in developing UAlbany’s official Study Abroad Program to Haiti. In 2011, Maritza and 4 chaperones traveled to the earthquake-stricken city of Port-Au-Price, Haiti, with 11 students — most of whom were EOP participants — to assist with humanitarian efforts. Since then, groups of mostly EOP students have traveled to Haiti every summer to continue with that mission. 

Areas of Expertise: Counseling, Educational Opportunities Program, Career Objectives