Current Title & Duties
Rafael Martinez, MA, MS, EdD
Dr. Rafael Martinez, Director, PhD Human Services Program, has assumed the role of Interim Dean of Academic Affairs. He began his career at Albizu University over 28 years ago as an adjunct faculty in the Psychology Doctoral Program, and became full time faculty and Director of the Undergraduate Psychology and Education Programs in Fall 2011. As a trained Educator and Cultural Anthropologist, Dr. Martinez has concentrated on cross-cultural studies with an emphasis on non-traditional healing systems. He also has extensive experience in the field of law enforcement training in the areas of ritualistic crime investigations and train-the-trainer strategies. Dr. Martinez' non-academic roles have included over 28 years of experience working with grants and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining Albizu Faculty, he worked in the Miami Dade County Grants office overseeing the disbursement and oversight of funds awarded to human services non-profit organizations. He also served as a senior grant reviewer for the US Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the County's Alliance for Human Services.
Biography
Dr. Martinez began his career at Albizu University over 25 years ago in the Fall 1996 as an adjunct Faculty in the Psychology Doctoral Program. He became full time Faculty and Director of the Undergraduate Psychology and Education Programs in the Fall 2011.
As a trained Educator and Cultural Anthropologist, Dr. Martinez has concentrated on cross-cultural studies with an emphasis on non-traditional healing systems. He also has extensive experience in the field of law enforcement training in the areas of ritualistic crime investigations and train-the-trainer strategies.
Dr. Martinez non-academic experience includes over 25 years of experience working with grants and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining the Albizu Faculty, he worked in the Miami Dade County Grants office overseeing the disbursement and oversight of funds awarded to human services non-profit organizations. He also served as a senior grant reviewer for the U.S. Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the County’s Alliance for Human Services.
Research / Research Interests
Dr. Martinez has conducted ethnographic research in the areas of non-traditional healing systems. He has served as a consultant for numerous organizations in the area of ritualistic crime investigation and has years of training experience with mental health and health professionals in the areas of Afro-Caribbean religions, particularly Cuban Santeria and Haitian Voodoo.
Dr. Martinez also has years of experience in substance abuse research when he served as Faculty research instructor for the University of Miami, School of Medicine, Center for Drug Research. His research was co-authored, presented, and published by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Dr. Martinez has directed and/or co-chaired over 40 doctoral dissertations mostly from the Albizu’s Psychology Doctoral Program and the Doctoral Program in Human Services and also from external institutions such as NOVA University and the Universidad de Granada (Spain).
Dr. Martinez’s Master Thesis in the field of Cultural Anthropology is titled Afro-Cuban Santeria Among the Cuban Americans in Dade County, Florida: A Psycho-cultural Approach – University of Florida (1979). Dr. Martinez’s doctoral dissertation research in the field of Education is titled A Qualitative Analysis of the Congruency of Jungian Psychological Preferences Identified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Human Resource Development Role of Instructor/Facilitator – Florida International University (1996).
Academics, Education, Certifications
Dr. Martinez received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Florida (Anthropology/Psychology) and a Master of Arts (MA) in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Florida. He also received a Master of Science (MS) in Education and a Doctor of Education (EdD) from Florida International University.
Dr. Martinez is an active member of the following professional organizations:
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- American Anthropological Association (AAA)
- Association for Psychological Anthropology
- Psi Chi – The International Honor Society in Psychology
- Kappa Delta Pi – International Honor Society in Education
Recent Publications
- Martinez, R., Taylor, M.J., & Calvert, W.J. (2014). Santeria as a Culturally Responsive Healing Practice. In Regan Gurung (Ed.) Multicultural Approaches to Health and Wellness in America. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
- Winburn, A.P., Martinez, R. & Kiley Schoff, S. (2017). Afro-Cuban Ritual Use of Human Remains: Medicolegal Considerations. Journal of Forensic Identification. 67(1), 20171.
