About Frank
Frank C. Butler (PhD, Florida State University) is a UC Foundation Associate Professor of Management and Faculty Director of the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business (RCOB) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). There he teaches Strategic Management, the capstone course for all college of business students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and Project Management, the capstone course for undergraduate Management majors. Beyond the collegiate courses, he leads the strategy capstone in the executive education leadership program in the RCOB. Frank was also the first faculty member to create faculty-led study abroad trips to take students to Mexico and Germany to learn about international business for the RCOB. As a strong believer and utilizer of experiential education, he received the Think Achieve Faculty Award in 2014 for his use of experiential learning in his classroom.
Frank is married to his soulmate, Endia Butler. They met at the end of July 2017 and were married by September 2017. They share numerous interests, including a passion for traveling, LEGO, and ghosts/horror/thriller movies and related activities, just to name a few. More than anything, however, they enjoy just being together as much as possible.
Additional information about Frank: Frank is an ardent researcher. In 2017, he received the Rollins College of Business Outstanding Faculty Research and Creative Achievement Award. He has contributed to over 40 journal publications, book chapters, conference presentations, and invited presentations. His research has appeared in practitioner publications such as Harvard Business Review and Business Horizons and top-tier academic journals such as Journal of Management and Journal of Business Research. He also serves as an associate editor for Organization Management Journal and the journal Sustainability. His goal in his research is to study phenomena that occur in practice to better understand how firms can unlock greater potential and success.
As a proponent of evidence-based management, Frank leverages the findings from research to inform his work to help organizations of all types. Using this mentality, Frank has worked with numerous entrepreneurs, small business owners, non-profit leaders, and senior executives on a wide array of issues through his consulting services. From writing business plans to providing guidance and planning of corporate strategy, Frank strives to help organizations succeed. He also provides trainings to non-profit and for-profit organizations on topics such as strategic planning, strategic change, fundraising techniques, and board of director governance.
Prior to becoming an academic, Frank co-founded an IT networking business while attending the University of Georgia (UGA) as an undergraduate student. After graduating from UGA, Frank moved to Atlanta, GA to work for a software development company, Kreg Corporation, focused on delivering decision support software to hospitals. After a short stint at Kreg, he was accepted into a yearlong study abroad program to Germany sponsored by the US Government and German Bundestag. This experience included an internship requirement, which he performed at an IT company, PC-Ware Information Technologies AG, headquartered out of Leipzig, Germany. This internship turned into a fulltime job, and Frank became responsible for International Sales and Partnerships and remained in Germany for an additional 2 years. There he developed the foundations for a global sales program, developed partnerships across the world, provided guidance and support to the firm’s numerous subsidiaries, involved in several acquisitions and post-acquisition integration, and participated in strategic decision making for the company. It was through his experiences in Germany that led him to decide to pursue graduate studies in strategic management. To do so, he returned to the US to apply to graduate school. Upon returning to the US, Frank worked for a large, global IT consulting firm, BearingPoint, on the Cingular Wireless and Bellsouth merger until he began his doctoral studies at Florida State University.
Frank currently serves on the Board of Directors of EIRSystems, Inc., a startup focused on improving the e-prescribing process to help prescribers and pharmacies save time and money while reducing prescription drug abuse through such activities as doctor shopping for opioids. He also serves on the advisory board of Solas Bioventures, a venture capital firm that targets early stage biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other healthcare related technologies and opportunities. He is also on the advisory board of the UTC SMILE Fund, an undergraduate led investment fund with over $600,000 in assets under its management.
For a list of his publications, visit Dr. Butler’s Google Scholar page or visit his ResearchGate profile.