John R. Butler
Board Vice Chair
Chair, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Personnel Committee
Member, Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee
Member, Legislation, Audit and External Affairs Committee
Office Address:
Butler & Anderson, LLC
5315 North Clark, #254
Chicago, IL 60640
john@jbutlerinc.com
Professional Experience:
- Partner, Butler & Anderson, LLC, Chicago, Illinois (2007-present)
- Associate and Director of Strategic Communication and Research Initiatives, The Ehrhardt Foundation, Chicago, Illinois (2005-2008)
- Assistant Professor and Director of Forensics, NIU, Department of Communication (1998-2005)
Education:
- Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, Department of Rhetoric and Communication, Emphasis: Public Argument.
- M.A., Northern Illinois University, Department of Communication, Emphasis: Rhetorical Studies.
- B.A., Northern Illinois University, Department of Political Science,
Major: Political Science/Public Law; Minor: Black Studies.
Academic Leadership and Public Service:
- Student Regent, Illinois Board of Regents (two terms: 1992 – 1994)
- Presenter and Participant, numerous disciplinary conference presentations at the National Communication Association Annual Conference, and other disciplinary conferences (since 1994).
- Academic advisor for seven master’s candidates and committee member for eighteen master’s candidates, Dept. Communication, NIU.
- Coordinator and facilitator of numerous public forums and debates on issues of local community concern in association with position as Director of Forensics at NIU.
- Member, Provost’s Task Force on Multicultural Curriculum Transformation, NIU (2000-2004)
- Coordinator for the Day, Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute (MCTI), NIU (Summer 2002 and 2003).
- Presenter, Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute (MCTI), NIU (Summer 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003) (workshop on “Sexual Orientation and the Classroom”).
- Small Group Facilitator, Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute (MCTI), NIU (Summer 2002).
- Participant, Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute (MCTI), NIU (Summer 1999).
- Participant, NIU “Safe Zone Program,” (1998)
- Member, NIU President’s Commission on Sexual Orientation (1998–2004)
- Member, faculty search committees (3); Chair, faculty search committee for assistant professor in Department of Communication
- Member and Representative of the North Central Region, Executive Board, Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) (Summer 2000 – Fall 2001).
- Pro bono consulting in strategic communication (since 1998) for organizations involved in regional development, child care, and food distribution; litigation strategy; grass-roots civil rights advocacy; and municipal elections.
- Member and President, Sigma Nu Fraternity, Theta Eta Chapter, NIU (active 1989 – 1992).
Awards & Recognitions:
- Member (since 1995) of National Communication Association (NCA).
- Member, American Society of Trial Consultants (2005 – 2007).
- Reviewer, Western Journal of Communication (2002 – 2005).
- Recipient, Summer Research and Artistry Grant, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, NIU, 2000.
- Recipient, “Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award,” awarded by the Graduate Student Advisory Committee, Dept. Communication, NIU, April 2000.
- Recipient, 25th Anniversary Appreciation Award, Center for Black Studies, NIU (October 1996).
- Awarded Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Dept. Communication, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (August 1994 - April 1998).
- Recipient, 1992-93 Center for Black Studies Community Service Award, NIU.
- Awarded Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Dept. Communication, NIU (January 1993 - May 1994).
- Recipient, 1992 Outstanding Forensics Student Award, NIU.
Publications:
- [with Philip Dalton] "Getting Clipped: Denial and Masculinity Politics in the 2002 U.S. Senate Race in Montana," Western Journal of Communication 74.3 (Winter 2010) (in press).
- “Transgender DeKalb: Observations of an Advocacy Campaign,” Journal of Homosexuality 45 (2/3/4 2003): 277-296 (reprinted in: Queer Theory and Communication: From Disciplining Queers to Queering the Discipline(s), Gust A. Yep, Karen E. Lovaas, and John P. Elia, Eds. (New York: The Haworth Press, Inc., 2003) 277-296.
- “Somalia and the Imperial Savage: Continuities in the Rhetoric of War,” Western Journal of Communication 66.1 (Winter 2002): 1-24.
- “Carol Moseley-Braun's Day to Talk About Race,” Argument and Advocacy 32 (Fall 1995): 62-74.
