Royce Ann and Phil Martin provide scholarships to SGTC Aviation Maintenance students

December 9, 2024
South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford is shown above (l to r) with Royce Ann and Phil Martin, who have established Aviation Maintenance Scholarships at SGTC. Dr. Royce Ann Martin, is an alumna of the South Georgia Tech Aviation Maintenance program and was the college’s first state GOAL (Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership) winner. She is giving back so others can excel in the aviation maintenance field.
South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford is shown above (l to r) with Royce Ann and Phil Martin, who have established Aviation Maintenance Scholarships at SGTC. Dr. Royce Ann Martin, is an alumna of the South Georgia Tech Aviation Maintenance program and was the college’s first state GOAL (Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership) winner. She is giving back so others can excel in the aviation maintenance field.

    Royce Ann Martin, Ph.D, an aviation maintenance alumna of South Georgia Technical College, and her husband, Phil, are giving back so others can take advantage of a technical education that will provide them numerous opportunities in the aviation maintenance field.  They are helping “Bridge the Gap” for workforce education.

  Dr. Martin and her husband, Phil, presented a check to the South Georgia Technical College Foundation during a recent visit to the college.  SGTC President Dr. John Watford and SGTC Vice President of Institutional Advancement and SGTC Foundation Executive Director Su Ann Bird accepted the donation on behalf of the foundation.

   Martin, who is a retired Aviation Studies Instructor from Bowling Green State University, graduated from South Georgia Tech’s Aviation Maintenance program in 1981.  She was also selected to serve as the school’s 1981 GOAL (Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership) local representative.  She competed at the regional level and advanced to the state level, where she was selected as the top technical student in Georgia.

   The Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) was established in 1972 to showcase the state’s technical education programs and their students.  South Georgia Tech has had three state GOAL winners.  Royce Ann Martin was the first state winner in 1981.  Johnny Dodson, Industrial Systems student, represented SGT as a state winner in 1996 and Ashley Rogers, a marketing student, won the state title in 2016.

   “As a student in South Georgia Tech’s two-year Aviation Maintenance Program, I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of both the state’s GOAL Award and the state’s PRIDE (Performance Recognition Indicating Demonstrated Excellence) Award in 1981.  The benefits from being a state GOAL winner and student in South Georgia Tech’s vocational-technical courses had a tremendous impact on my life,” shared Martin.

   “My time at South Georgia Tech was life altering,” explained Martin, who enrolled here after being involved in a severe accident.  She had been working as a military aircraft maintenance officer when she suffered serious head trauma and other debilitating injuries and was given a medical discharge from the military that left her devasted. 

   With encouragement from her husband, Phil, she enrolled in the FAA certified aviation maintenance program at South Georgia Tech.  She developed an affinity for the hands-on approach to learning from her vocational-technical education experience. 

   Frank Gassett, Martin’s Aviation Maintenance Instructor, inspired and influenced her to become an educator and mentor.  After graduation and earning her FAA Airframe and Power Plant Certifications, Martin continued her education and earned a master’s degree while also serving as a civilian ground instructor for Grumman Aircraft.  She later earned her Ph.D., and taught classes at Indiana State University for five years.

   She retired from the College of Technology at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio in 2018 after teaching aviation courses there for 22 years.  “My teaching always reflected my belief that theory should be intricately connected to application,” said Martin.

   Today, she and her husband, continued their love and support for the “hands-on approach to learning” by providing scholarships to South Georgia Technical College Aviation Maintenance students.  “I am honored to be able to give back to a school that gave so much to me,” said Martin.  “I hope these scholarships will help other young men and women excel in the aviation maintenance field and maybe even decide to teach one day.”