Retired General to Speak on His War with Mental Illness

By Dave Maley, November 3, 2023

Presentation is part of the Jahn Family Civic Leadership Lecture Series.

Retired U.S. Major General Gregg Martin will discuss his experiences serving in a leadership role while acutely affected by ongoing mental illness in a presentation at Ithaca College on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Free and open to the public, his talk will be held at 7 p.m. in Emerson Suites.

Martin is the author of the recently published book “Bipolar General: My Forever War with Mental Illness,” a memoir intended to provide an education and serve as a source of inspiration, aiming to dispel the stigma around mental illness, alleviate suffering, and save lives.

His Ithaca College appearance is sponsored by the Jahn Family Civic Leadership Lecture Series, which brings to campus military leaders who can provide relevant looks at topics affecting our armed services and our country.

A West Point graduate who also holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. from MIT, Martin commanded the 130th Engineer Brigade in combat during the first year of the Iraq War. He later served as Commandant of the U.S. Army War College and President of the National Defense University, among other leadership roles. In 2014, his undiagnosed bipolar disorder suddenly cost him his 36-year military career and plunged the veteran into the battle of his life.

Following his presentation, Martin will serve on a Q&A panel with special guests Ken Fisher, Chairman and CEO of the Fisher House Foundation, and Martin Stallone, M.D., the President and CEO of Cayuga Health.

Fisher House Foundation is a nonprofit that provides housing so that families of hospitalized military personnel and veterans can be near their loved ones. The inaugural speaker in the Jahn lecture series in 2014, Fisher attended Ithaca College from 1976 to 1980 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2016. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees.

The annual lecture series is made possible by the Jahn Family Civic Leadership Fund, established by Robert Jahn Jr. in 2011 to support the ROTC program at Ithaca College.