Professor Martha E. Stark Receives NYU's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award

NYU Wagner is pleased to announce that Martha E. Stark, Clinical Professor of Public Service and Director of the Management Specialization, is a recipient of New York University’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award for 2022–2023.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award recognizes outstanding faculty who exemplify the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, scholarship, and justice work and who promote the principles and ethos of Dr. King’s extensive global contributions in their research, teaching, leadership, and community-building efforts. These awards are particularly significant as they are guided by student engagement. Student participation in the award process includes, but is not limited to, nomination, selection, and award development. Honorees consist of NYU faculty who have made a substantial impact within the classroom, in advancing student research and co-curricular projects, and in their work with students across the greater NYU community.

Martha Stark joined NYU Wagner as a Clinical Professor in 2017. She is beloved as a professor, regularly teaching Financial Management, Management & Leadership, and Performance Management & Measurement at Wagner. She previously served as a Distinguished Lecturer at Baruch College’s Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. In addition to teaching, Stark is a tax policy expert and serves as the policy director of a coalition of groups that has sued New York State and City claiming that the property tax structure violates the Constitution and various tax laws. She also recently helped craft an alternative to a proposed pied-a-terre tax and has a law firm that challenges property taxes on behalf of owners in court.

Previously, Stark served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Finance, a 2,400-person tax agency responsible for collecting more than $22 billion in revenue to fund and support local services. Her many accomplishments in the role include: administering a tax amnesty program responsible for collecting $80 million in additional revenue and removing bad debt from the city’s books and records, implementing an innovative parking program for companies making deliveries in New York City, improving transparency by providing more access to Finance records, and overseeing the management of the City’s cash flow without the need to borrow money against tax receipts. As Commissioner, Stark served as a trustee on the boards of the New York City pension funds with assets of more than $100 billion; the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the organization responsible for rebuilding the World Trade Center site; the Twin Towers Fund; and the Prospect Park Alliance.

Stark has also served as a strategist, coach, facilitator, and management and leadership consultant for several nonprofit organizations including the Park Avenue Synagogue, Asphalt Green, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders, the Ali Forney Center, and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Stark has served on several boards including Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, GMHC, the North Fork Women for Women Fund, and Tarragon Corporation. She currently serves on the board of The Black Institute and as a life trustee on the board of the New York University Law School Foundation.

Stark earned both her Juris Doctor and a Bachelor’s in Political Science at NYU.