John Butler

John D. Butler, Ph.D., PE is the Director of Academic Planning and Logistics for the Village Green Virtual Charter School (Providence, RI). He the author of Inventing School (Butler, 2016) and Who's the New Kid in Chemistry? Exploring Uncharted Waters (Butler, 2014). In 2010, Dr. Butler received the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from the University of Rhode Island's School of Education for his dissertation Exploring Some Inattended Affective Factors in Performing Nonroutine Mathematical Tasks. From 2005-2013 he served as the Mathematics Department Chair and Data Analyst for Beacon Charter High School (Woonsocket, Rhode Island). Prior to a career change in 2001 to teaching high school mathematics, he spent 22 years in engineering designing automated machines and supervising installations both in the U.S. and Europe. He is the inventor of over 15 U.S. patents. In 1982, he co-founded the Mechtrix Corporation (a leading manufacturer in the electrical wire processing industry) located in Wisconsin. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Western New England University (Springfield, Massachusetts) and a Master of Arts in Teaching Mathematics from Providence College (Providence, Rhode Island). He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). Dr. Butler has been an adjunct mathematics instructor for the Rhode Island College Upward Bound Program since 2007. He is also an accomplished musician on clarinet, saxophone, vibraphone, and a member of the International Society of Bassists.