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Charles Franklin Martin was born August 19, 1927 in
Carrollton, Missouri. He attended
public schools in Carrollton until his junior year in high school.
He graduated from Lincoln University Laboratory High School in Jefferson
City, Mo. in 1945. He entered
Lincoln University in 1945 and graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science
degree in Building Engineering and Mathematics.
In 1969, Dr. Martin became one of the first African Americans in the
country to receive a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Yale. In 1972, he began working at the Defense Mapping Agency in
Washington, D.C. He was promoted to the Senior Executive Service as Chief
Scientist and Chief, Advanced Technology Division of the Defense Mapping Agency.
Much of Dr. Martin’s principal work was in highly classified areas.
However, some of his major pioneering and innovative contributions were
in the development of the world Geodetic Systems (WGS 60- WGS 84); Earth Gravity
Models for ICBM support and orbit determinations; the National Geodetic
Satellite Program; Very Long Baseline Interferometry and the development of the
Global Positioning System.
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Dr.
Charles Franklin Martin
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Dr. Martin has written numerous publications on such topics as military
applications of gravity Date, lunar mapping control, lunar ephemeredes research,
satellite orbit research and navigation. He has received international recognition through his
participation in various symposia, several as the representative of Yale
University, in Greenwich, Paris, West Berlin, Copenhagen, Japan and Nigeria.
He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, Royal Astronomical
Society, Astronomical Society of the Pacific,
American Geophysical Union, American Congress of Surveying and Mapping,
USAF Office Scientific Research Mathematics Committee.
On May 4, 2001, Dr. Martin was one of six people in the
country inducted into the National Imagery and Mapping Agency’s (NIMA)
inaugural Hall of Fame. He is still
highly regarded for his pioneering work and revered by his former colleagues for
his contributions to the Department of Defense and the security of our nation.
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