"My paternal grandfather was an illiterate farmer who devoted all his resources to making sure his children had an education. From him, I learned that an education is the greatest resource you can have, and teaching and training are ways to share that richness."

Martha Escobar has been a professor at Auburn since 2002, where she has supervised more than 30 undergraduate research assistants, directed four Honors theses, and has been recognized with various teaching and mentorship awards. She has been a guest lecturer at various foreign institutions, and is an active member of her professional community. Her research focuses on behavioral models of fear and fear attenuation, use of invertebrates as models of simple learning, behavioral measurements of cognitive improvements based on pharmacological therapies, and causal reasoning in humans. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health. Escobar, her husband, and two young children greatly enjoy traveling and visiting other cultures. She said her proudest moments come with her students' success, and that having letters of support from her students for this award has been particularly emotional, letting her know that she has made a contribution to that success.