Utah State University Alumnus Named Utah Superintendent of the Year

After years of experience and hard work, Utah State University alumnus Martell Menlove was recently named Utah Superintendent of the Year. Menlove is superintendent of Utah's Box Elder School District.

Menlove received his undergraduate degree in elementary education and later a doctoral degree in special education at USU. He is a former Utah State adjunct professor, and his wife, Ronda Rudd Menlove, is currently the assistant dean of Independent and Distance Education.

After his father, Ralph Menlove, was left severely brain damaged in a car accident while traveling to an education training session, Menlove chose to follow his father's career choice. His father was a school superintendent at the time of the 1971 crash.

"Partly out of the desire to follow in my father's footsteps, I decided to make education my career," Menlove said. "I decided then that's what I was going to do."

Three of Menlove's children graduated from Utah State and another child is currently attending the university. Each has chosen to be an educator. Education has always been a priority to Menlove and his family, he said.

Menlove began his career as an elementary school teacher. By age 36, he had risen to the superintendent position.

"My motivation is seeing the impact of education on students," Menlove said. "Whether it is the opportunities for learning that are opened as a student learns to read or the high school graduate who is the first in his or her family to go to college, it is all about students."

Menlove oversees more than 1,200 employees in 24 schools enrolling 10,500 students. He has been a teacher, a guidance specialist, a school counselor and a principal. He has also served on several state boards and committees.

Being named Utah Superintendent of the Year qualifies Menlove for the national Superintendent of the Year award. This will be announced in February at the American Association of School Administrators conference in San Diego.