Laurie J. Butler

Laurie J. Butler is the Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. Butler uses molecular beam scattering and laser probes to study fundamental chemical reactions, especially involving multiple potential surfaces. These are important for atmospheric chemistry, for example. Her studies uniquely reveal the keys to branching in cases with two or more reaction pathways formally available; examples are photodissociation of nitric acid, either into hydroxyl radicals and nitrogen dioxide or into HONO + O, and the breaking of either the C-S or S-H bond of CH3SH. She was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Chemical Society.