Dr. John Sibley Butler, son of the late T.J. and Johnnye Mae Butler of Franklinton, has been selected to the Austin Texas Technology Hall of Fame. Among those entering with him are Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers, Jim Trasard, founder of National Instruments, George Kozmetsky, founder of Teledime, and Laura Kilcrease, founding Director of the Austin Technology Incubator.
The inducted were selected because they were instrumental in changing Austin from a city with few opportunities, to a major Technology hug that has produced thousands of jobs and billion of dollars from high tech entrepreneurs.
As holder of the J.Marion West Chair at thd Mc Combs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Butler was Founding Director of the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship and was Director of the Texas Venture Labs.
He was also Director of the IC2 Institute, and with the Austin Technology Incubator as a laboratory, was responsible for creating billions of dollars in tax revenue, wealth and jobs, in the State of Texas. He also has produced books and articlez which document the rise of Austin as a Technopolis.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Butler was the first investor in Glofish, which is the first genetic pet in the aquarium fish market. He continues to be active in creating companies and producing wealth.
Dr. Butler credits his mother and father, the town of Franklinton, Washington Parish High School, LSU and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois for his success.
He and his wife have funded two John and Rosemary Butler Scholarships at LSU Baton Rouge. One scholarship, in the LSU Alumni Association, is awarded to a top scholar from Washington Parish. The other is in the Humanities, and is awarded to a top student in the LSU Honor's Program.
He is the brother of Franklinton Alderman T.J. Butler Jr.
