Martha Layne Collins - Activities After Leaving Office

Activities After Leaving Office

Collins' term expired on December 8, 1987, and under the restrictions then present in the Kentucky Constitution, she was ineligible for consecutive terms. In 1988, she accepted a position as "executive in residence" at the University of Louisville, giving guest lectures to students in the university's business classes. She also started an international trade consulting firm in Lexington. When Western Kentucky University president Kern Alexander resigned to accept a position at Virginia Tech in 1988, Collins was among four finalists to succeed him. Some faculty members publicly expressed concerns about Collins' lack of experience in academia, and she withdrew her name from consideration shortly before the new president was announced.

After fulfilling her one-year commitment to the University of Louisville, Collins was named a fellow of the Harvard Institute of Politics' John F. Kennedy School of Government, teaching non-credit classes on leadership styles once a week. Concurrent with her position at Harvard, Collins was named to the board of regents for Midway College in 1989; the following year, she was removed from the board of regents of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Her removal was automatically triggered after she missed three consecutive board meetings between 1986 and 1989. In 1990, Collins accepted the presidency of Saint Catharine College in Springfield, Kentucky, becoming the first president of the small, Catholic college who was not a Dominican nun. College officials stated that Collins was recruited for the presidency to raise the college's profile.

In 1993, Collins' husband, Bill, was charged in an influence-peddling scandal. The prosecution claimed that while Collins was governor, Dr. Collins exploited a perception that he could influence the awarding of state contracts through his wife. It was alleged that he exploited this perception to pressure people who did business with the state to invest nearly $2 million with him. He was convicted on October 14, 1993, after a seven week trial; he was given a sentence of five years and three months in federal prison, which was at the low end of the range prescribed by the federal sentencing guidelines. He was also fined $20,000 for a conspiracy charge that involved kickbacks disguised as political contributions. Governor Collins was called to testify in the trial, but was not charged. The scandal tarnished her image, however, and may have cost her an appointment in the administration of President Bill Clinton. Collins was also rumored to be considering running for the U.S. Senate, a bid which never materialized following her husband's conviction. The Collinses reunited following Dr. Collins' release from prison on October 10, 1997.

In 1996, Collins resigned as president of Saint Catharine College to direct the International Business and Management Center at the University of Kentucky. Later that year, she was a co-chair of the Credentials Committee at the Democratic National Convention. When her contract with the University of Kentucky expired in 1998, Collins took a part-time position as "executive scholar in residence" at Georgetown College, which allowed her more time to pursue other interests. In 1999, she was named Honorary Consul General of Japan in Kentucky, a position which involved promoting Japanese interests in Kentucky, encouraging Japanese investment in the state, and encouraging cultural understanding between Kentucky and Japan. In 2001, Governor Paul E. Patton named her co-chair of the Kentucky Task Force on the Economic Status of Women. In January 2005, she became the chairwoman and chief executive officer of the Kentucky World Trade Center. She has held positions on the boards of directors for several corporations, including Eastman Kodak.