The Martin-Springer Institute is a leading institution in Arizona that is committed to learning from the past and engaging with the present. Its educational programs are based on the principles of intercultural understanding and dialogue.

The Institute was founded in 2000 by Ralph and Doris Martin and is located at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. The Institute’s mission is to attend to the experiences of the Holocaust in order to relate them to today’s concerns, crises, and conflicts. Its programs promote the values of moral courage, tolerance, empathy, reconciliation, and justice.

Ralph and Doris Martin, who are residents of Flagstaff, founded the Institute to raise awareness of human rights through Holocaust remembrance and education. Doris Martin (née Szpringer of Będzin, Poland) survived the Holocaust. She is available for speaking engagements for students and community groups. Kiss Every Step is Doris’ memoir of her family’s survival of the Holocaust.

Under the leadership of Dr. Björn Krondorfer, who became its director in 2012, the Martin-Springer Institute offers a variety of educational programs for students and the community at large:

Doris Martin (born Szpringer) at the opening night of the exhibit, with NAU students from the exhibit’s research and design team

• public speakers

• teacher training programs, seminars, and workshops

• applied research opportunities and extracurricular activities for students

• symposia and fellowships for scholars

• commemorative events

• exhibits on Holocaust history and art

• programs with the local and regional community

• joint events with national organizations

• international exchanges