Martin W. Shell is the first Vice President and Chief External Relations Officer at Stanford University. He leads the offices of Government Affairs, University Communications, Office of Development, Community Engagement and interim oversight of the Senior Associate Vice President for the arts. He aligns the work of Stanford’s externally facing teams to design, implement and maintain strategies for service and engagement regionally, nationally and globally, including collaboration with local partners to address sustainability, affordability and other challenges specific to Silicon Valley and the Bay Area.
Martin began at Stanford in 1998 as the Law School’s Associate Dean for External Relations later becoming Chief Operating Officer. He moved to the University Development Office in 2003 and was named vice president in 2005.
Prior to joining Stanford, Martin held positions at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, Temple University, Villanova University and Hendrix College. He also has served as press secretary to a U.S. Representative, and as an executive at public utility company. Shell is a trustee of Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. He and his wife, Lee Ann, are the parents of four adult children.