William Arthur Martin (1938-1981) was a computer scientist from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After graduating from Northwest Classen High School, where he was a state wrestling champion, he attended MIT where he received a bachelor's degree (1960), master's (1962) and a Ph.D. (1967) in electrical engineering under supervision of Marvin Minsky with a dissertation on "Symbolic Mathematical Laboratory". While obtaining those degrees, he worked as a teaching assistant at MIT (beginning in 1960). He became an assistant professor in 1968 and was promoted to associate professor of electrical engineering in 1972. In 1975, he received academic tenure. He held a joint appointment at the MIT Sloan School of Management.