Seletha Butler joined Georgia Institute of Technology’s Scheller College of Business as an assistant professor of business law and ethics in July 2011. Prior to joining the Scheller College of Business, Professor Butler spent fourteen years, collectively, with global law firms in Atlanta and Chicago and one of the nation’s largest commercial banking organizations. During her tenure in private law practice and corporate America, Professor Butler’s legal practice focused on complex domestic and global commercial transactions, including acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, strategic alliances, technology licensing, and outsourcing, and corporate governance matters.
Professor Butler’s research agenda focuses on corporate governance issues specifically the structure, obligations, and activities of boards of directors. She teaches courses involving the intersection of business, law, ethics, and policy, including developing a Corporate Governance course for undergraduate students for which she received the Scheller College of Business Professor of the Year Award—Elective Business Courses (2013) on her first semester teaching the course. Professor Butler also is the recipient of other honors recognizing her teaching at Georgia Tech, including Professor Appreciation recognition from the Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball, Baseball, and Football teams, and Women’s Basketball team; and Thank a Teacher recognitions from students through the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.
In 2011, she was a recipient of the Nation’s Best Advocates: 40 Lawyers Under 40, an honor by the National Bar Association and IMPACT to recognize a cross-section of legal professionals age 40 and under within the African American legal community who have achieved prominence and distinction in their career.
Professor Butler is a speaker on organizational governance, diversity, professional responsibility and ethics in business, and career development and advancement strategies for education institutions, professional associations, governmental organizations, and not-for-profit organizations. She is the author of All on Board! Strategies for Constructing Diverse Boards of Directors, Butler, S., 7 Va. L. & Bus. Rev. 61 (2012) and “Financial Expert”: A Subtle Blow to the Pool and Current Pipeline of Women on Corporate Boards, Butler, S. 14 Geo. J. Gender & L. 1 (2013) (lead article).
A native of Alabama, Professor Butler has a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Finance, summa cum laude, from The University of Alabama, a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School where she served as current development editor of The Harvard Journal on Racial and Ethnic Justice, formerly the Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal, and a Master of Business Administration (global focus) from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Among Professor Butler’s professional and community activities, she is on the Board of Trustees of MedShare International, Inc. (and its Nominating and Governance Committee) and a former member of the Board of Governors of Tech High School, Inc. Professor Butler serves as the Faculty Advisor for the Scheller Society of Entrepreneurs and the Scheller College of Business Graduate Minorities in Business and a Faculty Associate for the Georgia Tech Grand Challenges Program. She also is a member of the Georgia Tech Leadership Roundtable, Fall 2011 and the 2005 Class of Leadership Georgia.
Areas of SpecializationCorporate Governance Corporate Boards Mergers and Acquisitions Commercial Transactions EducationM.B.A., Georgia Institute of Technology J.D., Harvard Law School B.S., The University of Alabama |
