Laurie Jeanne Butler (born 1959) is an American

physical chemist Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

known for her experimental work testing the

Born–Oppenheimer approximation In quantum chemistry and molecular physics, the Born–Oppenheimer (BO) approximation is the best-known mathematical approximation in molecular dynamics. Specifically, it is the assumption that the wave functions of atomic nuclei and elect ...

on separability of nuclear and electron motions. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of chemistry at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

Education and career

Butler's parents were both medical professionals. She is the identical twin sister of Lynne Butler, now a professor of mathematics at Haverford College; they were the youngest of six siblings, and grew up in Garden City, New York. After Butler's father had a stroke, the family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where Butler went to high school. She started her undergraduate education at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

, intending to study

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

. After discovering the large number of animal sacrifices needed for experiments in those areas, she shifted her interests to chemistry, and after a year she transferred to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT). She completed her bachelor's degree at MIT in 1981. She went to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

for her doctoral studies, working there with Yuan T. Lee on photodissociation. After completing her Ph.D. in 1985, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 1987.

Recognition

Butler won a

Sloan Research Fellowship The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

in 1992 and she won the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at The University of Chicago in 1993. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2002. In 2011 she became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science "for distinguished contributions to the field of physical chemistry, particularly for elegant experimental studies of chemical reaction dynamics of radical and molecular species", and in the same year she also became a Fellow of the American Chemical Society. In 2018 she was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

Personal life

Butler's husband Michael Stein is the Ralph and Mary Otis Isham Professor in Statistics at the University of Chicago. They have one daughter.

Textbook

Butler is a co-author of the 8th edition of the textbook ''Principles of Modern Chemistry'' (Cengage, 2016) with

David W. Oxtoby David William Oxtoby (born 1951) is an American academic who served as the ninth president of Pomona College. He held the position from July 1, 2003, to July 1, 2017. A theoretical chemist, he received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and phy ...

and H. P. Gillis.

References

External links

The Butler Group
at the University of Chicago {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Laurie Living people American women chemists Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Chicago faculty Sloan Research Fellows Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Chemical Society Fellows of the American Physical Society 1955 births American women academics 21st-century American women