Charles M. Butter
b. 1934 – d. 2023 · 2 books
Biography
Charles M. Butter, Ph.D., known as Charlie, was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Charlie was a renowned Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Michigan who expanded the knowledge of his field and inspired generations of students. What many didn't know was that Charlie achieved all this despite contracting polio as a one-year-old and enduring multiple surgeries up through early adulthood. Spending so much time in hospitals fueled his interest in science and he longed to become a physician.
His family moved to Newton, MA, where Charlie graduated top in his class from Newton High School. He got into Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he earned a B.A. in Psychology in 1955. Charlie went on to Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, where he studied physiological psychology, now called neuroscience, and met his beloved wife, Irene. Irene and Charlie married in 1957, then moved to Washington, D.C., where Charlie worked for the National Institute of Health as a post-doctoral fellow. In 1962, Charlie got an offer as Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He held research fellowships at Harvard, Oxford, and the University of Florida, and was the author of over 65 peer-reviewed research articles. He changed the way we think about how the brain pays attention and how it interprets and understands what it processes. His textbook, *Neuropsychology: the Study of Brain and Behavior*, was published in 1968. Charlie presented his research at International Neuroscience Society conferences around the world.
As he aged, post-polio syndrome ravaged his body and confined him to a wheelchair. Yet he remained a curious, if curmudgeonly, scholar and traveler. Charlie continued his academic adventures by writing two additional books, *Crossing Cultural Boundaries: Universals in Art and their Biological Roots* (2011) and *Exploring and Exploiting: How the World of Living Things Works, From Evolution by Natural Selection to How Some Businesses Flourish* (2022). These books were written painstakingly, with utter determination, as post-polio syndrome stole his dexterity.
Source: [Legacy](https://obits.mlive.com/us/obituaries/annarbor/name/charles-butter-obituary?id=40880687)
His family moved to Newton, MA, where Charlie graduated top in his class from Newton High School. He got into Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he earned a B.A. in Psychology in 1955. Charlie went on to Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, where he studied physiological psychology, now called neuroscience, and met his beloved wife, Irene. Irene and Charlie married in 1957, then moved to Washington, D.C., where Charlie worked for the National Institute of Health as a post-doctoral fellow. In 1962, Charlie got an offer as Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He held research fellowships at Harvard, Oxford, and the University of Florida, and was the author of over 65 peer-reviewed research articles. He changed the way we think about how the brain pays attention and how it interprets and understands what it processes. His textbook, *Neuropsychology: the Study of Brain and Behavior*, was published in 1968. Charlie presented his research at International Neuroscience Society conferences around the world.
As he aged, post-polio syndrome ravaged his body and confined him to a wheelchair. Yet he remained a curious, if curmudgeonly, scholar and traveler. Charlie continued his academic adventures by writing two additional books, *Crossing Cultural Boundaries: Universals in Art and their Biological Roots* (2011) and *Exploring and Exploiting: How the World of Living Things Works, From Evolution by Natural Selection to How Some Businesses Flourish* (2022). These books were written painstakingly, with utter determination, as post-polio syndrome stole his dexterity.
Source: [Legacy](https://obits.mlive.com/us/obituaries/annarbor/name/charles-butter-obituary?id=40880687)
