Heather M. Butts received her BA from Princeton University. She was a history major, concentrating in American and African American studies. She received her JD from St. John’s University School of Law, her master’s in public health from Harvard University and her master’s in education from Columbia University’s Teachers College.

Professor Butts is an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She is also the faculty course lead for the leadership course at the Mailman School of Public Health.

Professor Butts is the co-founder of the non-profit H.E.A.L.T.H. for Youths, Inc. The organization partners with 90 programs each year to help more than 7,000 students achieve their dream of going to college. Some of the projects the organization works with include little free libraries, food pantries, career preparation, public health projects and financial literacy.

Butts’ publications include “Alexander Thomas Augusta: Physician, Teacher and Human Rights Activist” for the Journal of the National Medical Association, “Policy Perception: What Responses are Seen as Appropriate for COVID-19,” African American Medicine in Washington, D.C.: Healing the Capital During the Civil War Era and Healing Civil War Veterans in New York and Washington, D.C.