Frank Martinez, a former UNM Rainforest Innovations Board Member, was named a lifetime achievement awardee of the Paul Bartlett Ré Peace Prize. Mr. Martinez retired in 2012 as a visiting research scholar in the Department of Architecture & Planning at the University of New Mexico. The Peace Prize is administered annually by the University of New Mexico Foundation and recognizes UNM student, faculty, staff, alumnus, and retirees who promote peace, harmony and understanding among people. The recipient’s work may be impactful on a local, regional, national, or even global level, but the emphasis must be on promoting both internal and external peace through their work.
A life-long community volunteer and advocate, Frank Martinez helped form the Citizens Information Committee of Martineztown in 1971, created to protest the urban renewal condemnation of Martineztown, one of Albuquerque’s oldest neighborhoods on the northeast border of downtown. The committee developed a long-term community plan for the neighborhood. As a result of neighborhood involvement, over the years, Martineztown has maintained it residential, historic character. Mr. Martinez served as President of the organization for many years and remains the committee’s spokesperson. Mr. Martinez was an early and still committed supporter of the Innovate ABQ initiative and the construction of the Lobo Rainforest Building. He is a firm believer in entrepreneurship as the path to economic growth for the city of Albuquerque and its citizens.
See also, “2020 Paul Bartlett Ré Peace Prize recipients to be honored for outstanding peace promotion activities,” posted on the UNM Newsroom Website at http://news.unm.edu/news/2020-paul-bartlett-re-peace-prize-recipients-to-be-honored-for-outstanding-peace-promotion-activities.
To read more about the Paul Bartlett Ré Peace Prize, visit: http://paulre.org/peace.html.