Professor Adam Martin served as the first president of Northwestern College, which was established in 1865 in Watertown, Wisconsin. The institution, originally called “Wisconsin University” and then “Northwestern University,” had 11 students in two levels, college and seminary, and two professors, Adam Martin and Pastor Eduard Moldehnke. Martin taught exclusively in English and envisioned Northwestern becoming a true American university offering courses in law, medicine, and the arts, in addition to theology. A good speaker with a pleasing personality and a drive to raise money for the new school, Martin served until 1869. Although his vision for the Watertown campus was quite different from the ministerial education school it became, his early support of the college is appreciated. After his resignation in 1869, he served as a German professor at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. He died in 1921.
The Northwestern College Alumni Society Adam Martin Grant for Living Languages is awarded annually to a preseminary student based upon his academic achievement, campus citizenship and participation, potential for pastoral ministry, and excellence in living languages. Northwestern College served as the WELS preseminary college from 1865 to 1995, when it amalgamated with Dr. Martin Luther College to form the present Martin Luther College.
