Alison Butler

Class of 2025-26

Distinguished Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
College of Letters and Science
University of California, Santa Barbara

Alison Butler has helped expand the field of marine bioinorganic chemistry by uncovering how certain ocean enzymes and bacteria use metals like vanadium and iron. Her research has led to significant insights into the chemistry of marine organisms and iron uptake in microbes.

She received her Ph.D. from the University of California San Diego.

Butler is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Science. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RCS) and the American Institute of Chemists (AIC).

She is a recipient of the Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry and the Cope Scholar Award from the ACS; the Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms Award from the RCS; the William H. Nichols Medal from the New York American Chemical Society Local Section; the AIC Chemical Pioneer Award; the Tolman Medal from the Southern California Section of the ACS; the ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry; and the 9th Vanadis Award from the International Vanadium Symposium.

She is a University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Faculty Research Lecturer, the top honor given by the UCSB Academic Senate.

She has authored 145 peer-reviewed articles and holds three patents.

Butler will collaborate with faculty and students in the College of Arts and Sciences.