Palmer Florida President Says Farewell

Peter Martin, D.C., FPAC, retires after 35 years at Palmer College.

After 35 years of service to Palmer College of Chiropractic, Peter Martin, D.C., FPAC (Main, ’68), president of Palmer Florida, has announced his retirement from the College. His last day will be June 30, 2023.

“I know the Palmer College community joins me in congratulating Peter on his over three decades of impactful service to Palmer and the chiropractic profession,” says Dennis Marchiori, D.C., Ph.D., chancellor and CEO.

Dr. Martin graduated from the British College of Naturopathy and Osteopathy in 1964, then earned his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College in 1968. He served in faculty and administrative positions at Palmer and the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic from 1968 to 1978. He owned a chiropractic equipment and supplies business for the next four years and had a private practice in Lancaster, California, from 1982 to 1992.

Dr. Martin was president of Palmer West in San Jose, California, from 1992 to 2000, when he accepted a position as dean of the College of Naturopathic Medicine at the University of Bridgeport. He returned to Palmer West in 2004 as interim president and was named president in February 2005.

In July 2005, he assumed the additional duties of president of Palmer’s Florida Campus in Port Orange. Since 2006, he’s served as president of the Palmer Florida exclusively.

Dr. Martin is a past president of the Council on Chiropractic Education and the California Chiropractic Association and is a former board member of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges. He was named a Fellow in the Palmer Academy of Chiropractic in 1994.

Dr. Martin was honored by the Florida Chiropractic Association as Chiropractor of the Year in 2014 and as the “Northeast Convention Honoree” for his ongoing and outstanding service to the FCA and the chiropractic profession in 2021.

Through it all, Dr. Martin’s wife, Christian — for whom the Christian Mary Martin Memorial Endowed Scholarship was named — was by his side. The couple was married for 56 years before her passing in 2019.

“I’m grateful for the love and support that Christian gave me through all of the years, and to our children, Max and Tessa, and their families,” says Dr. Martin. “For the next several months, I anticipate getting up each morning looking forward to going to work in a place I love with people I love. The fact that I have been fortunate enough to do this for many years is a testament to the wonderful team I work with who have made Palmer Florida truly a happy place. I have been blessed in that, but at the age of 85, it’s time to call it a day.”

Now, on the occasion of his retirement, he has established the Dr. Peter Martin Opportunity Scholarship, one of the first under the new Student Success Scholarship Initiative. He established this scholarship to help ensure that anyone who has the passion and drive to become a Palmer-educated Doctor of Chiropractic has support for their academic journey.

MORE: Read more from the Spring 2023 issue of Palmer Proud Magazine.