Dr. Michelle M. Martin is a Michigander by birth and a Kansan and Oklahoman by choice. Martin is a historian who earned her doctorate at the University of New Mexico in May 2022. She earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees in history at Western Michigan University. After graduating from Western Michigan University Martin embarked on a nearly twenty-year career in academic and public history. For eleven years she taught full and part time at the two and four year college level in Kansas and Oklahoma. She also worked in the television and film industry for nearly ten years as a researcher, script writer, and field producer. Projects she has contributed to have aired on PBS, A&E, History Channel, Investigation Discovery, and at National Park Service units in Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas.
For several years Martin worked as a museum director and has served on numerous museum boards and has provided consulting services for small museums in Kansas and Oklahoma. She is most proud of her volunteer service as a living history interpreter for the National Part Service at Fort Scott National Historic Site. Martin has lectured on various historical topics across the country for museums, state and national historic sites, and educational institutions.
From 2023-2025 Martin was an Assistant Professor of History and the Coordinator of the Public History Certificate at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. While there she mentored two MA students who successfully defended their theses. Currently Martin is an Adjunct Faculty at Mesa Community College in the Department of Social Sciences/History in Mesa, Arizona. She is a member of several historical organizations and serves as the Recorder for the Coalition for Western Women's History. In addition to her work at MCC and ASU, Martin works as a consultant in the public history field and is researching several projects related to women in the American West in the nineteenth century for museums. She is also completing research and writing a monograph about the life of a Semvnole man who became a traveling preacher and cultural entertainer in the nineteenth century.
For several years Martin worked as a museum director and has served on numerous museum boards and has provided consulting services for small museums in Kansas and Oklahoma. She is most proud of her volunteer service as a living history interpreter for the National Part Service at Fort Scott National Historic Site. Martin has lectured on various historical topics across the country for museums, state and national historic sites, and educational institutions.
From 2023-2025 Martin was an Assistant Professor of History and the Coordinator of the Public History Certificate at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. While there she mentored two MA students who successfully defended their theses. Currently Martin is an Adjunct Faculty at Mesa Community College in the Department of Social Sciences/History in Mesa, Arizona. She is a member of several historical organizations and serves as the Recorder for the Coalition for Western Women's History. In addition to her work at MCC and ASU, Martin works as a consultant in the public history field and is researching several projects related to women in the American West in the nineteenth century for museums. She is also completing research and writing a monograph about the life of a Semvnole man who became a traveling preacher and cultural entertainer in the nineteenth century.
Martin lives in Mesa, Arizona and is a proud cat mamma to Josie. Her husband, Dr. Donald Fixico (Mvskoke/Semvnole/Shawnee/Sac and Fox) is a Distinguished Foundation Professor and Regents’ Professor of History at Arizona State University. When not working Michelle enjoys hiking, travel, photography, documenting severe weather, watching college and professional football, and volunteering as a living history interpreter at various state and national historic sites.