On Feb. 14, 2017, Embry-Riddle’s Board of Trustees unanimously appointed P. Barry Butler to be the university’s sixth president.

“I’m thrilled to be named Embry-Riddle’s next president, and I look forward to building upon the outstanding global reputation of the university,” Butler said to a crowd of students, faculty and staff assembled in the Jim Henderson Administration and Welcome Center building the following day. “I want to partner with all of you to define the future of Embry-Riddle, the research we do, the educational programs we deliver and our engagement with alumni as we move forward.”

Butler’s official duties as president began March 13.

Midwestern Roots

Butler comes to Embry-Riddle from the University of Iowa, where he was executive vice president and provost and a longtime assistant professor in the mechanical and industrial engineering department.

“It is important to note that Dr. Butler received 100 percent endorsement from everyone involved in this search. All of the way through the short list to the final approval of the board of trustees, there was one name that consistently rose to the top. And that was Dr. Butler,” says Mori Hosseini (HonDoc ’13; ’78, ’79, ’82, DB), chairman of the Embry-Riddle Board of Trustees and chairman of the Presidential Search Committee.

Butler says he is particularly excited to join Embry-Riddle because of the university’s aviation focus. “It’s amazing for me to be part of an institution with such a history, with a group of people who have the same passion that I have — the passion for aeronautics,” says Butler, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, all from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Butler is married to Audrey Butler, Ph.D., a lecturer in chemical and biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa.