Martha Hilley joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin School of Music in 1982 as Coordinator of Group Piano. In 1986, she became Keyboard Division Head and served in that position until 1989. From 1994-99, she served as Associate Director and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Butler School of Music. Again in 2012 she was asked to be Director of Undergraduate Studies, a position she still holds.

Ms. Hilley has been active in workshops, conferences, and seminars on the international, national, state and local levels. She has taught for International Workshops in Italy, Belgium, Hawaii, Australia, Norway and Austria. She has also served on the faculty of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska, the Summer Keyboard Institute at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan and given the Keynote Address at the Encontro Internacional de Piano em Grupo in Goiania, Brazil.

Professor Hilley's abilities as a teacher were recognized in 1983 when she received the Texas Excellence Teaching Award and again in 1988 when she was awarded one of four Dad's Association Centennial Fellowships for excellence in undergraduate teaching. In 1992, she was recipient of the prestigious Orpheus Award presented by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in recognition of her contributions to the field of music. The Texas Music Teachers Association named Ms. Hilley Outstanding Collegiate Teacher in 1997. In 1998 she was the first College of Fine Arts faculty member to be awarded the William Blunk Endowed Professorship. In 2002, Professor Hilley was named as the first MTNA Foundation Fellow for the state of Texas. In 2005 she was elected Vice-President of the Music Teachers National Association. In the spring of that same year, Hilley was named to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at The University of Texas at Austin and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Music Teachers National Association at the national conference held in Denver in March of 2008. The University of Texas at Austin named Professor Hilley as the Civitatis Award recipient in the 2011-2012 academic year. In March 2014 she was named Teacher of the Year by the Music Teachers National Association. Also in the spring of 2014 Hilley was named as one of eleven Provost Senior Teaching Fellows at the University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. Hilley's articles have been published in Clavier, Piano Quarterly and Keyboard Companion. She is co-author of two college piano texts: Piano for the Developing Musician and Piano for Pleasure. The texts were the first to embrace digital sequencer technology through disks furnished to teachers as well as the first to provide web-based computer tutorials, downloadable pdf and mp3 files and dedicated web sites for both texts. (http://www.pdmpiano.org and http://www.pfppiano.org)