At a ceremony held on June 24, 2026, the founding dean of the Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law at High Point University and former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, Mark Martin, was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the North Carolina Institute of Public Leadership. The Institute was founded in 1974 and since its start has produced over 1,100 graduates.
Early in his legal career, Dean Martin was selected as a fellow of the Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit leadership development organization that trains future public servants, elected and appointed officials, and civic leaders to be better qualified and more ethical, accessible, and representative. The Alumni Award inscription reads: “In honor of his decades of service to the people of North Carolina, and for exemplifying the values of the Institute of Public Leadership Fellows Program with distinction.”
Like many aspiring attorneys, Dean Martin began his legal career open to the opportunities that would follow law school graduation and admission to the bar. One of those opportunities was his selection for the Institute’s Fellows Program while he was serving as legal counsel to the Governor of North Carolina. By the time he completed the program, he had been appointed a resident superior court judge, becoming the youngest person to assume that office since the colonial era. He ultimately presided over court sessions in 28 counties. Reflecting on his tenure on the Superior Court bench, Dean Martin said: “Holding court in counties across the state and working with the amazing justice system stakeholders will always be among the best memories of my lifetime.”
After his superior court service, Dean Martin became the youngest person in North Carolina history to serve on both the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina from 2014 to 2019.
Today, Dean Martin continues that life of service by helping aspiring lawyers achieve their dreams. In his role as founding dean of High Point University’s Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law, he brings to legal education the same commitment to public service, professional excellence, and respect for the rule of law that defined his decades on the bench.
Commenting on Dean Martin’s award, Professor Natt Gantt, who teaches at High Point Law and is a national expert in professional and ethical formation, said: “Throughout his extraordinary career, Dean Martin has exemplified lawyer leadership. He is an outstanding role model for our students in underscoring the importance of pursuing leadership in professional and community organizations as a lawyer’s civic responsibility.”
