“Grateful.” That’s the word University of Iowa Executive Vice President and Provost P. Barry Butler uses to describe his feelings as he prepares to leave the campus where he has worked for more than three decades. During that time, Butler has helped to shape nearly every aspect of campus life, from classroom curricula to faculty hiring initiatives.
A public reception honoring Provost P. Barry Butler and his wife, Audrey, will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 1, in Stanley Café on the second floor of Hancher Auditorium. Remarks will begin at 6 p.m.
“I’ve been able to work with some incredible people,” says Butler, who last week was named president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. “There’s nothing that I regret.”
Butler will assume his new duties at Embry-Riddle—a world leader in aviation and aerospace education and research—on March 13, which doesn’t give him much time to say goodbye to the campus he’s called home since 1984, when he took a job as assistant professor in the College of Engineering. He and his wife, Audrey, a lecturer in chemical engineering, are longtime Iowa City residents.
“When I think about my time at the university, I think a lot about the faculty and students and their success,” says Butler. “I know I can’t put their achievements on my résumé, but it’s a great feeling to know that I played a role. I would say I’m most proud of that—of the many wonderful achievements of our faculty and students.”
Butler has received many well-wishes from across the UI campus and beyond since Embry-Riddle officials announced that the school’s board of trustees had voted unanimously to hire him. Butler will be Embry-Riddle’s sixth president.
“I have great respect for Dr. Butler,” says Jean Robillard, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. “When he was dean of the College of Engineering, he was transcendent. He was the person with the clear mind and the stable opinion; he was a leader in every sense of the word. The college grew tremendously under his leadership.”
Lynette L. Marshall, president and CEO of the UI Foundation, says it’s difficult to identify Butler’s most significant contribution to UI because there are so many.
“I would say that an important contribution was the way he led by example, always believing the best of people, and working in a respectful and thoughtful way to solve problems. He will be remembered fondly and with immense respect and admiration,” Marshall says.
Embry-Riddle officials were eager to recruit Butler, who’s had a life-long fascination with airplanes, air travel, and the science behind them. Butler earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and received a PhD in mechanical engineering from the same institution in 1984.
“My roots are in aeronautical engineering,” Butler says. “It’s something I’ve enjoyed since I was 10 years old. It’s truly a part of who I am.”
When he was a kid, Butler says, jets fascinated him. His father was a U.S. Air Force pilot, and Butler spent a fair amount of time exploring airplane hangars and perusing his dad’s navigational-device manuals. Later in life, when he was a graduate student, Butler flew gliders.
“I believe there is a perfect job fit for everyone out there, and this job just perfectly aligned for me,” Butler says of the Embry-Riddle opportunity. “To be able to influence the future of aeronautics and to do it at a school with such an incredible history in aeronautics education is something I am very much looking forward to.”
Butler’s UI career has been defined by the many different roles he has played, and played well. Butler was named dean of the College of Engineering in 2000 and served in the position for a decade. Under his leadership, the college experienced significant growth in undergraduate enrollment and external research funding. Butler also advocated for broader educational goals for engineering students, including minors or second majors in fields outside of engineering, and established the Virtual International Project Teams program, which promotes international team-building.
“Provost Butler believed in the unique, long-term vision of the College of Engineering and our dedication to educating the engineer,” says Alec B. Scranton, dean of the College of Engineering and Butler’s successor when Butler was named interim provost in 2010. “Because of his leadership, we are a better college today.”
As provost, a position he took on officially in 2011, Butler oversees more than 100 academic programs in 11 colleges, as well as the Division of Continuing Education, UI Libraries, and the UI Art Museum. He manages a budget in excess of $700 million and coordinates the academic components of the arts campus rebuilding effort. He’s also steered recent cluster hiring initiatives in water sustainability, aging mind and brain, digital public arts, humanities, and informatics.
“Provost Butler really cares about the university and the people at the university,” says David C. Johnsen, dean of the College of Dentistry, who has known Butler for much of his UI tenure. “He’s good at figuring out where we need to go and then putting the right people in place to make sure we get there. He will be missed.”
Looking back at his career at the UI, Butler says the biggest challenge was turning down good ideas. “It’s really hard to say ‘no’ to a good idea or program,” Butler says. “But sometimes you have to say ‘no’ to something good so that you can say ‘yes’ to something even better.”
In recent years, Butler says he has benefited greatly from the mentorship and influence of three campus leaders: UI President Bruce Harreld, former UI President Sally Mason, and Robillard.
“I’ve learned from all three of them in ways that have shaped my leadership skills and how I think about the future,” says Butler. “I will benefit from their mentorship for years to come.”
Butler says he will miss the UI campus and his colleagues and friends here, but he’s content to be moving on to a place where the community also takes immense pride in their school.
“You can feel (their pride) when you talk to them, and you can see it in their eyes,” he says of the Embry-Riddle community. “It’s a lot like the people you meet on the University of Iowa campus. There’s an amazing affinity for the institution.”
As Embry-Riddle’s president, Butler says he intends to tackle higher education issues such as the boom in online courses and the rising costs of academic programs. He also plans to expand research efforts.
“I’m ready for the challenge,” he says.