Robert Sidney Martin is a archivist, librarian, administrator, and educator. He is Professor Emeritus in the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman's University, where he was Professor of Library Science and Lillian Bradshaw Endowed Chair until his retirement in 2008. Martin also served as Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts from October, 2001, through January, 2002. In September, 2006, the United States Senate confirmed his Presidential appointment to the National Council for the Humanities. From 2003 through 2008 Martin served as a member of the U. S. National Commission on UNESCO, and was a member of its Executive Committee and its Communication and Information Sector Committee.  

He has authored or edited numerous books and journal articles on library management, the history libraries and librarianship, and the history of the exploration and mapping of the American West. He been elected and appointed to numerous positions of leadership in service organizations for library and archives professionals; currently he is on the Executive Board of the Urban Libraries Council and the Board of Directors of the Institute for Learning Innovation.

His work has been recognized with numerous honors and awards, including Distinguished Alumnus, Rice University; Distinguished Service Awards from both the Texas Library Association and the Society of Southwest Archivists; Lifetime Achievement Award, Department of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas; Distinguished Alumnus, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and the Justin Winsor Prize from the American Library Association. He is a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists. In November 2008 he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second highest civilian honor conferred in the United States.