Martin David Jenkins

In 1974, Morgan State College dedicated the Martin David Jenkins Behavior Science Center in Jenkins' honor.

In 1939, Jenkins published "The Mental Ability of the American Negro," a systematic review article that rejected inter-race, or white and black comparison, analysis for understanding the intelligence capabilities of blacks. Jenkins showed that there is significant overlap between black and white intelligence tests and that intra-group differences were much larger than inter-group differences. This work highlighted that more blacks and whites shared intelligence test scored rather than the majority blacks scoring lower than whites.

Between 1935 and 1937, Jenkins worked as register and professor of education at North Carolina Agriculture and Technical College (now University). In 1938, he worked at Cheyney State Teachers College as Dean of Instruction. From 1938 to 1948, Jenkins worked at his alma mater, Howard University, as professor of education. Then, in 1948, Jenkins accepted the position as president of Morgan State College (now University) in Maryland. While serving as president during the Civil Rights era, he felt that the institution should remain apolitical and not support the civil rights movement, a decision many students disagreed with and spoke out against. In 1970, he left Morgan State and worked as the Director of the Office of Urban Affairs for the American Council on Education until 1974. During this period, he also worked as a consultant in higher education and as a diplomate of the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Psychology.

Jenkins graduated from Howard University with Bachelor of Arts in mathematics in 1925. Between 1925 and 1930, he worked with his father's firm, David Jenkins and Son, as a highway bridge contractor. Concurrently, he attended Indiana State College (now Indiana State University) and earned an associate degree in teacher education. During a brief interim, Jenkins taught at Virginia State College. In 1932, he was awarded a graduate school fellowship to Northwestern University, the first of its kind to be awarded to a Black American at the institution. In 1933, he received his Master's degree and, in 1935 earned his Ph.D. in Education. While earning his doctorate, he studied under Prof. Paul A. Witty and wrote his dissertation called "A Socio-Psychological Study of Negro Children of Superior Intelligence." Jenkins' dissertation, and his subsequent research, were foundational to the field of educational psychology. Jenkins' work discussed Intelligence Quotient (IQ) testing and worked to disprove the prevailing consensus that blacks, through a measurement of their IQ, were less intelligent than whites.

Martin Jenkins was born to David and Josephine Jenkins in Terre Haute, Indiana. Jenkins was educated in racially segregated public schools until his high school years when he attended the racially integrated Wiley High School. While attending Wiley, he was the captain of the track team and set Vigo County record for the 50-yard (5.6 seconds), 100-yd (10.2 sec) and 220-yd (24.0 sec) dashes. He graduated from Wiiley in 1921.

Martin David Jenkins, (September 4, 1904 — June 9, 1978) was an American educator and researcher known for his work challenging theories of race and intelligence.