David Lincoln Martin was born on May 6, 1947 in Los Angeles, California to Albert H. and Cornelia A. (Lincoln) Martin. He attended local schools and in 1964 was accepted as a student at the University of Redlands. He graduated from the school with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968. The following year he attended the graduate school at Claremont University, where he received a Master of Arts degree in 1969. From 1969 to 1971, Martin served with the United States Army in Vietnam. He returned to graduate school at Claremont in the fall of 1971 and two years later received his doctorate in Government Studies. While attending graduate school he was employed as a Public Administration Analyst at University of California, Los Angeles. In 1973, Dr. Martin accepted a position at Auburn University as a professor of Political Science, which he held until his retirement in 1997. He also worked as special projects officer at the United States Department of the Interior in Washington, D. C. from 1979 to 1980. He is a member of the American Political Science Association, the American Society of Public Administrators, and the Alabama Political Science Association. He has also authored numerous articles on state and local politics in Alabama and several books including Alabama's State and Local Government, Running City Hall: Municipal Administration in America and was a major contributor to Capital, Courthouse and City Hall.