Lou Martinez

Professor

“Even if a college offered me more money, I wouldn’t leave here. SMC is the best.”

1959 was a good year for Lou Martinez to leave Cuba. “It was during the Revolution and my parents didn’t want to see me hanging around to become a good communist youth,” remembers Lou. So instead of being shipped off to the Soviet Union to learn Russian, Lou was sent to live with an uncle in Florida. And Fidel’s loss became SMC’s gain in 1987.

The power of the press is something Lou thinks people underestimate. “You can make big money in printing,” he says. “Printing is the fourth largest industry in the U.S. And 75% of all printing done in America is done in California.” Lou says that “ink is in my blood. And printing is a very good trade. In fact,” he continues, “the trade is literally begging for qualified people. Wages can run to $30 an hour and there’s always room to advance.”

Lou points out that printing has undergone a real revolution in recent years. “It’s a very high tech field now. Not dingy, dark and dirty. And we’re using new inks so we don’t even pollute anymore.”

Lou’s students come from all over the world to learn with him and then export their skills back to their own countries. “I love seeing the accomplishments of my students,” says Lou. “One young student called me back a year after graduating from SMC. And guess what? He was the supervisor in the print shop at UCLA.”

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