In Memory of Paul Martin, PhDOn Thursday, April 18, 2019, Paul Alan Martin, 63, of Albuquerque, NM, passed away after a 7.5-year battle with Glioblastoma (GBM) brain cancer. Paul was born in Dearborn, MI to James and Lee Martin on January 31st, 1956. Paul graduated from Mayfield High School (1974) in Cleveland, OH, 4th out of a class of 550. He received a BS in Electrical Engineering (EE) from Massachusetts of Technology (MIT) (1978), and earned a PhD (EE & Physics) from the University of Illinois (1986). As part of the Electronics Lab [E-Lab) team at GE Aerospace, Syracuse, NY, he collaborated with scientists to communicate with Voyager's obsolete computers as it left our solar system. During his career, Paul researched and analyzed solar cells, lasers, cyber-attacks, semiconductors, hybrid vehicles, and radiation effects on satellites for Martin Marietta, Lockheed Martin, Mississippi State University, L-3 Communications, Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) and others. While at MIT, he met Desmond Tutu in Boston and spoke to Stephen Hawking at an IEEE conference in California. Paul met his wife in graduate school when he pulled out a chair for her broken foot. They told jokes at church for a year, married on November 28, 1987, and raised two children. A tall and quiet man, he gave his son and daughter a love of science, a sense of curiosity, a thirst for knowledge, and the desire to figure out how things work and why. In March, 2018, Paul and his wife started: "A Survivors Guide to GBM (Glioblastoma)" on Facebook. The page shares research about this rare brain cancer with a median life expectancy of 16 months. Brain cancer experts emphasize that long-term survivors (LTS), such as Paul Martin (7+ years), are outliers. A genome assay test showed his 4th rGBM had a rare mix of mutations that could explain his LTS status. His brain was preserved and donated to MD Anderson for further research to continue his fight against GBM. Paul was preceded in death by his parents, Lee, and James (married 50 years). He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Beverly Leesman, and two adult children, Danielle and Stewart of Albuquerque, NM, his brother, Curt and his wife, Clare (married 36 years) of Houston, TX, and a niece and nephew. The service will be Saturday, May 25, 2019 at St Chad's Episcopal Church, 7171 Tennyson Street NE, Albuquerque, NM at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, make donations to the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research and Information on this page. |
Donations In Memory of Paul Martin, PhDWhen you make the donation below, we will already know it is In Memory of Paul Martin, PhD and we will send an acknowledgement of your gift to the family. If you do donate, please consider checking to see if your employer has a corporate match policy! If you prefer donating with a check, print out this page and mail it with a check made out to "Musella Foundation" to: Musella Foundation 1100 Peninsula Blvd Hewlett, NY 11557 888-295-4740 Phone 516-295-2870 Fax |