Regent S. Martin Taylor, a Democrat from Grosse Pointe Farms, was first elected to the University’s Board of Regents in 1996 and was reelected in 2004.

Taylor graduated with a law degree from the Detroit College of Law in 1967 after receiving a bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University in 1964.

Taylor is a retired vice president of DTE Energy Company and former interim president of Detroit Renaissance.

In addition to his service as a University regent, Taylor serves on the board of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and as a director of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Taylor is also a former chairman of The Arts League of Michigan, the Council of Michigan Foundations, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan and the Detroit Urban League. He is also a former executive committee member of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and a past president of the Detroit Zoological Institute and New Detroit, Inc.