ATLANTA (June 30, 2005) Spelman College President Beverly Daniel Tatum has named Johnnella E. Butler, provost and vice president for academic affairs. Butler, recognized for her work in ethnic studies, women's studies, curriculum change and development, is responsible for overseeing academic departments and programs, formulating educational policies, and recruiting and orienting faculty.
"Dr. Butler is a very experienced administrator who has worked for many years as a faculty member and department chair, and currently serves as associate dean and associate vice provost in The Graduate School at the University of Washington," says President Tatum. "In addition, she is a noted scholar specializing in African-American literature, and is considered one of the pioneers in diversity and curriculum transformation, and a leader in bringing together the content of ethnic studies and women's studies. In fact, Butler created 'Difficult Dialogues,' a concept now central to discussions on diversity, race and gender."
Butler views her new position at Spelman as a significant career crossroad. "Coming to Spelman represents a major turning point in reaching goals central to both my professional and personal lives," says Butler, who leaves UW after 17 years of progressive growth at the institution.
An author and former concert soprano, the Virginia native attended the College of Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee, Mass., where she earned her bachelor's in English literature with a minor in Spanish American literature in 1968. From there, she earned a master of arts in teaching at The Johns Hopkins University in 1969. She later was awarded her doctorate in Afro-American literature and multicultural studies in 1979 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
With three decades of higher education experience that began at Mount Providence Junior College in Baltimore, Butler's rise as an educator and administrator are a direct result of her talents. After leaving Mount Providence in 1971, Butler, who continues to study Spanish and has studied Italian, French, and German for music literature performance, moved on to Towson State, and eventually to Smith College in 1974. While there, she chaired the department of Afro-American Studies, taught Afro-American literature, women's and American studies, established a national reputation in diversity and curriculum transformation, and became the institution's first Black woman awarded tenure. At Smith, she was also the co-principal investigator with Margo Culley of the University of Massachusetts for the first major Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education grant in curriculum transformation. While a professor at Smith, Butler was especially noted for lecture/recitals on the "African-American Spiritual: the Divine Encounter with Historical Reality," and "Black-Eyed Susans in Song: the Music of Black Women Composers."
After 14 years at Smith, Butler moved on to the University of Washington where she co-founded the Center for Curriculum Transformation and held several positions, including directing the Afro-American Studies program, before serving as chair of the American Ethnic Studies department and director of undergraduate curriculum. Eventually, Butler joined The Graduate School where she has established a model program for advancing graduate excellence through diversity.
Her first order of business when she joins Spelman in September includes curriculum and accreditation reviews. "I want to be certain I approach those projects in ways that advance the mission of Spelman. So, during my first year, I want to develop the collaborative relationship between president, provost, and faculty that will be necessary for us to excel," says Butler, who is author, collaborator or editor of several books, including "From Color Line to Borderlands: The Matrix of American Ethnic Studies," and The Grolier American Studies Encyclopedia. She is also co-editor with her husband, Dr. John C. Walter, of the University of Washington Press series, American Ethnic and Cultural Studies.
"I intend to get to know the Spelman community well and to learn from the faculty just what they see as the academic challenges and strengths of the institution, the departments and programs," she continues. "I expect to learn from the students just what they value most about their education at Spelman and what they want to do and need to make their Spelman experience even better."
A masterful collaborator, Butler plans to use her first year to lay groundwork for developing a strategy and plan that embraces the Spelman community of scholars and its students to take the college to even greater levels of academic excellence.
"I look at Spelman as coming home, coming home to colleagues who share my values and goals, and to a place that advances the talents and creativity of young Black women," says Butler. "I see before me in the students, the faculty, and the administrators, the dream of the slave, my great grandparents and others, coming marvelously true.
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Sunday, July 3rd 2005 at 12:53AM
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