George and Josephine Butler established this fund to support a chemistry professorship in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The couple met as students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Josephine graduated in 1941 with her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, and George received his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1942. The newlyweds moved to Philadelphia in 1942 but elected to return to academics and moved to Gainesville in 1946. They started what has become one of the oldest continuous polymer teaching and research efforts in a chemistry department in the United States.

A professor emeritus of polymer chemistry, George taught and researched at the University of Florida for more than 50 years. The polymer chemical research labs in Leigh Hall and the Chemical Research Building were dedicated “The George and Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory” in honor of the couple’s contributions to UF. As a result of their work, polymer chemistry at UF has become and remains an international model within the field.