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Brigadier General
Jeffrey T. Butler
Permanent Professor 2008–2018
B.S., United States Air Force Academy
M.S., Florida State University
M.A., Air Command and Staff College
Ph.D., Air Force Institute of Technology
Jeff Butler, the Academy’s 87th Permanent Professor, was born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in 1966. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1988 as a Distinguished Graduate with a Bachelor’s degree with Honors in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering. His first assignment was as Lead F-16 Radar Engineer in the 84th Test Squadron, USAF Air Warfare Center, Tyndall AFB, FL. While assigned to Tyndall, he earned a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Florida State University in 1991. He was a Distinguished Graduate of Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL, in 1993. He then was assigned to the F-22 System Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, as an Armament Integration Program Manager and Support Systems Engineer. In 1995 Jeff entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson and earned a PhD in Computer Engineering in 1998. Remaining at Wright-Patterson, he next served as an Adjunct Professor at AFIT as well as Deputy Chief, Radio Frequency Sensors Division, Sensors Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory. In 2000 Jeff became a student again at the Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, leaving as a Distinguished Graduate with a Master’s degree in Military Studies in 2001. He next joined the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Research, Washington, DC, as the Chief of the Joint Programs Division. In 2003 he became Chief of the Advanced Spacecraft Division, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, VA. Jeff became a National Defense Fellow for Russia and Eurasian Security Issues at the Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology, and Policy at Boston University, MA, in 2005. He returned to Washington in 2006 to become Deputy Director for Systems Engineering of the Missile Defense Agency. In 2008 Jeff was appointed Permanent Professor and Head, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He directed an active faculty and cadet research program and in 2009 established the Academy Center for Unmanned Aerial Systems Research. His department provided all cadets with an introduction to the principles of Air Force electronic and cyber systems through analysis and evaluation of analog, digital, and radio-frequency systems, and it offered Electrical Engineering majors four different areas of study: electronics, communications, computer systems, and controls. From 2013 to 2014 he was on sabbatical assignment as Senior Technical Advisor and Cyber Domain Chief at HQ NORAD, USNORTHCOM, Peterson AFB, CO. Jeff served as the Officer in Charge of the Cadet Sabre Drill Team, 2009–2013; was the Engineering Division Chair, 2015–2018; and chaired the Class of 2018 Academic Review Committee. Jeff was promoted to brigadier general and retired in 2018.