Joyce Martin was born in
Greensboro, North Carolina, where she lived with her family as a child on McConnell Road. and
Bennett College in 1956. Her mother and both her sisters had also attended Bennett College. After leaving college, Martin moved to Florida. built on the exact site where her father had run a barber shop in the 1940s. This donation was the largest alumna donation in the college's history, and Martin Dixon has continued to fund additional improvements and other projects related to the center, including a 14-seat schoolbus in 2015. She received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from
Bennett College for her philanthropy, as well as a "Woman of Substance" award. Dixon has served as chair of the
Brevard Community College Board of Trustees, Vice Chair of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation Board, Director of the Southern Area Links, Inc. and President of the
Cocoa Beach Women’s Golf Association. She currently serves on Hayes Taylor Memorial YMCA Board of Management. She was awarded the
United Negro College Fund's "Outstanding Alumna" award, and was named as
Brevard County's "Woman of Distinction". ==Personal life==