Martin Kurzweil is vice president, educational transformation, at Ithaka S+R. The Educational Transformation Program studies and supports the implementation of practices, policies, and innovations that improve equitable postsecondary access and success. Since launching the program in 2015, Martin and his team have conducted research, coordinated cross-institutional initiatives, and advised education leaders and policymakers on topics such as student debt, transfer, state and federal policy, and the use of technology in teaching and advising. Among other signature projects, Martin helped launch and serves on the steering committee of the American Talent Initiative, a 128-member initiative to significantly increase the number of lower-income students enrolled and graduating from high-graduation-rate colleges and universities.  

A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Martin has spent most of his career in education research and policy. He was previously an academic fellow at Columbia Law School, where his research and teaching focused on administrative law, federalism, and organizational governance in the context of K-12 and higher education. Prior to joining Columbia, Martin was senior executive director for research, accountability, and data at the New York City Department of Education, where he oversaw school evaluation and internal and external research for the 1.1-million-student district. As a researcher at the Mellon Foundation, Martin studied higher education equity, finance, and sports, among other topics. As a practicing lawyer, Martin clerked for Judge Pierre Leval of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and worked as a litigator at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz.

Martin has published dozens of reports, articles, commentaries, and book chapters, on a wide range of education-related topics, in both academic and popular venues. He is the co-author of Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education, which received the 2006 American Educational Research Association Outstanding Book Award.