If you were born in Carrollton between 1981 and 2017, there’s a good chance Dr. Rick Martin ’73 helped deliver you into this world.

Today, the OB/GYN’s family is honoring their patriarch with a scholarship bearing his name at the University of West Georgia, his alma mater, ensuring his legacy delivers powerful outcomes for generations to come. 

The Dr. Rick Martin Endowed Scholarship will be awarded annually to support a biology or nursing upperclassman studying health sciences with an interest in a medical career. 

“My education at UWG was invaluable in providing me with a framework to practice quality healthcare, and I am proud to say the university continues to educate professionals who excel,” Martin said. “There are many ways and avenues to impact the community’s health and wellbeing. My family and I feel blessed to be able to give back and to know that it will empower more students to feel the same way and carry on the gift of giving.”

Ever since he was 6 years old, Martin has known he wanted to be a doctor. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from then-West Georgia College in 1973, earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine and completed his residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 1981 he began practicing in Carrollton and later opened West Georgia OB/GYN, where he worked until his retirement in 2017.

Martin’s practice operated on the belief that all patients deserve to be treated the same regardless of their circumstances, often delivering Thanksgiving turkeys and holiday gifts to patients in need.

In addition to practicing medicine, Martin served as a chairman of the UWG A Day campaign, UWG Alumni Association Board of Directors, Carroll National Bank Board, People’s Community Bank Board, Charles E. Flowers Society Member, Kiwanis Club president and Open Hands of Carrollton volunteer. 

“We are grateful to the Martin family for their support and generous gift to UWG in our mission to curate a first-choice university for future healthcare providers,” said Dr. Meredith Brunen, UWG’s vice president for university advancement and CEO of UWG’s foundations. “Because of Dr. Martin’s love of UWG and his lifetime commitment to philanthropy, it is our hope that all who benefit from this scholarship will be instilled with the same sense of service to others.”

For more information about how you can make an impact by supporting UWG through an endowment, scholarship or annual giving, please visit UWG’s Give West page.