Danny Bernard Martin, PhD
Professor
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science (MSCS)
Contact
Building & Room:
3436 ETMSW
Address:
1040 W. Harrison St. (MC 147), Chicago, IL 60607
Office Phone:
Email:
Related Sites:
About
Danny Bernard Martin is a Professor of Education and Mathematics whose scholarship examines the intersections of mathematics, race, identity, and power, with a particular focus on Black learners. His research addresses mathematical identity, racialized mathematical experiences, mathematics socialization, and agency. His scholarship centers on two questions: What does it mean to learn and do mathematics while Black, and what does it mean to be Black while learning and doing mathematics? At the center of his work is a fundamental premise: the brilliance of Black children is axiomatic. This premise challenges deficit narratives and shifts attention from what Black learners supposedly lack to what mathematics education fails to recognize, value, and nurture.
Martin also examines mathematics education as a racialized institutional and political project, including how white supremacy, antiblackness, and racial capitalism shape mathematics teaching and learning. He is the author of Mathematics Success and Failure Among African American Youth (2000), editor of Mathematics Teaching, Learning, and Liberation in the Lives of Black Children (2009), co-editor of The Brilliance of Black Children in Mathematics: Beyond the Numbers and Toward New Discourse (2013), co-author of The Impact of Identity in K–8 Mathematics Learning and Teaching: Rethinking Equity-Based Practices (2013), and co-author of The Impact of Identity in K–12 Mathematics Learning and Teaching: Rethinking Equity-Based Practices (2024).
Before joining UIC, Martin spent 14 years teaching mathematics at Contra Costa College, where he was Professor and Department Chair.
Notable Honors
2026, Member, National Academy of Education
2025, Distinguished Scholar in Social Science Award, UIC
2024, Fellow, American Educational Research Association (AERA)
2018, Lifetime Achievement Award, Benjamin Banneker Association
Education
PhD, University of California, Berkeley, Mathematics Education
MA, University of California, Berkeley, Mathematics
BS (cum laude), Carroll College (WI), Mathematics and Physics
Professional Memberships
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI)