Henry Butler isn’t in Kansas anymore.
Chapman University in Orange has lured Butler from the University of Kansas to become dean of its Argyros School of Business and Economics. Butler is set to become business school dean and economics professor in July.
Butler hails from the University of Kansas School of Business and School of Law in Lawrence, where he has been director of the school’s Law and Organizational Economics Center.
“I think OC is going to be a fabulous place to live,” Butler said. “I’m overwhelmed with what a nice place it is, and with the friendliness of the people.”
Butler said he plans to focus on increasing the size and quality of Chapman’s business school. He said he intends to help fast-track development of a joint law and master’s of business administration degree at Chapman.
Along with Chapman President Jim Doti, Butler said he plans to work closely with OC businesses.
“The university has a lot of strengths and a lot of support from the business community,” he said.
Doti, who has overseen expansion and improved academic performance at the university, was a key factor in Butler’s decision to come here, he said.
“If Jim Doti wasn’t here, then I probably would not have come,” he said. “He’s building something really special here, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Richard McDowell, Chapman’s former business school dean, stepped down in February after 10 years in the post.
Prior to his Kansas position, Butler was on the faculty of the Arlington, Va.-based George Mason University School of Law and on the faculty of the College of Business Administration at Texas A & M; University at Corpus Christi.
The Roanoke, Va., native said he fell in love with economics at the University of Richmond, where he graduated in 1977. Butler later picked up master’s and doctoral degrees in economics at the Blacksburg, Va.-based Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He has a law degree from the University of Miami School of Law.
In coming weeks, Butler plans to relocate his family: wife Paige, their 6-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter. Another daughter, 17, still is debating whether to make the move from Kansas, where she attends high school, he said.
Butler said his hobbies include sports, travel, playing golf and reading. n
