As a young man, Danny Butler traveled the world as an assistant cruise director aboard a Norwegian Cruise ship. A decade later, he entered academia as a professor of marketing at Auburn University, where he’d parlay his wanderlust into exceptional global educational opportunities for Harbert College of Business students.

Butler, assistant dean for Harbert’s global programs, retired from Auburn in January 2025 after a successful 35-year career marked by an exuberance for teaching and international business education, as well as a genuine appreciation for Harbert students, colleagues and staff. 

Harbert College hosted a reception celebrating Butler and his accomplishments on Jan. 17, bringing together Harbert faculty and staff as well as former colleagues and alumni from Europe, New York, Houston, Chicago, Birmingham and Atlanta, among other locations.

“Danny is widely known for starting global programs for Harbert College 27 years ago when he and Dr. Sharon Oswald took 30 students to Prague,” said Dean Jennifer Mueller-Phillips. “Today, Harbert sends hundreds of students abroad each year and we teach an international business curriculum to roughly 1,200 students a year.”

Thanks to Butler’s dedicated leadership, Harbert Global has offered educational programs for thousands of undergraduate, master’s and executive graduate students in 30 countries.

Butler also helped launch several academic programs on campus, including supply chain management in Harbert College and the business engineering technology minor in the Ginn College of Engineering.

He played a pivotal role in recruiting two key supply chain faculty—Brian Gibson and Joe Hanna—who helped build what is now the Department of Supply Chain Management, a top ranked program with nearly 600 undergraduate, master’s degree and doctoral students.

“Danny has always looked out for my best interests and gave me the support I needed to succeed at Auburn,” said Gibson, the Waters professor and executive director of Auburn’s renowned Center for Supply Chain Management, at the reception. “He often tells me thank you for coming to Auburn. It’s my turn to thank him now for all he’s done for Auburn, our students, alumni and colleagues the world over.”

Harbert Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Keven Yost described Butler as a passionate educator who made a lasting impression on thousands of students through his classroom teaching, including the personal selling marketing course.

Dr. Butler has students write down their personal and professional goals and how they intend to accomplish them—a detailed personal strategic plan, Yost explained. Several years later, he mails them back to his former students.

“You can imagine the recurring impact of his course and continued engagement and support from Danny on those students when their assignments arrive in the mail years after the course has ended,” noted Yost.

Butler’s dedication to students resulted in more than 30 teaching awards during his Auburn career, including the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching award, which is the highest instructional honor bestowed on faculty at Auburn.

“Being presented with this award in 2008 was the most humbling experience I had before the retirement reception,” said Butler. 

According to Butler, the common denominator for all his Auburn accomplishments has been “offering students opportunities to have better lives.”

Making a difference in the world one student at a time

Anthony C. Brown (finance ’90, MBA ’92), senior private wealth advisor and partner at BlueTrust in Birmingham, is grateful for the personal impact Butler had on his life when he was an undergraduate. 

“What I remember most about Danny Butler has little to do with marketing classes but everything to do with his impact on me as a person,” said Brown, who shared how his professor asked one day after class how he was doing. 

“He could tell that I wasn’t myself and asked how I was doing,” said Brown. “He then followed up with, ‘No, really, tell me what’s going on.’ How often has someone cared enough to take the time to find out what’s really going on under the surface in your life?”

Butler proceeded to share his personal life experiences and wisdom in a way that had lasting impact.

“Danny has a disarming way of using humor to share important truths that might otherwise feel awkward or confrontational,” Brown said. “He helped me navigate a difficult period of transition away from athletics and reinforced the truly important things in life. I met a lovely girl shortly thereafter who would become the love of my life. We’ve been married 31 years now and have four beautiful children.”

Butler later encouraged Brown to pursue an MBA and wrote a reference letter to support the former Auburn football player’s application. 

“I can think of several professors along the way who contributed to my ability to earn a living. Dr. Butler helped teach me how to make a life,” said Brown.

Kella Farris (finance ‘01, MBA ‘03) first met Butler on a study abroad trip he led to Plymouth, England, when she was a junior. As a graduate student struggling to find an internship a few years later, she recalls Butler asking her what she’d do if she could wake up every day and not worry about making money.

“I remember [answering] with no hesitation that I’d work in country music,” noted Farris, a lifelong country music fan.

In short order, she said, Butler introduced her to Jeff Cook of the band Alabama and her country music business career began.

Today, Farris is a co-founder and partner with Nashville-based Farris, Self & Moore, LLC, a boutique business management and financial planning company representing the unique needs of hit songwriters and major recording artists. She also serves on the Country Music Association Board of Directors.

“I owe so much to Dr. Butler and will be forever grateful to him for kickstarting what I still wake up and love to do every day.”

Kryss Peterson Miller (marketing ’94), director of consumer insights at Glanbia Performance Nutrition in Chicago, appreciates the confidence Butler had in her as an undergraduate to pursue an advanced degree at a top-rated school.

Butler initially recommended she earn a master’s in market research at University of Georgia or Wisconsin, but when Miller indicated she wanted to pursue an MBA, Butler suggested Stanford University instead.  

“Having a professor tell you they think you can thrive at one of these programs is so inspiring,” she said.

After earning her Stanford MBA, Miller worked as a brand manager and later pivoted in her career, returning to the market research world so she could work more closely with the consumer.

“Thank you for believing in a young college student and helping to push me to have big goals and think big things for myself,” said Miller in a video shown at the retirement celebration.

An impact beyond Auburn

Butler is internationally known for his pedagogical innovations and was sought by other institutions as a consultant and seminar leader. He represented Auburn and Harbert College as a Fulbright scholar in the summer of 2013, teaching at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management in Croatia.

Butler, who earned his PhD in marketing and international business operations from the University of South Carolina and holds MBA and Finance degrees from the University of Central Florida, has published 39 papers in peer-reviewed research and education journals on a variety of marketing topics—some of which informed his classroom instruction as he incorporated research-based activities to teach complex marketing concepts.

He said he’s most pleased with a 2007 paper that describes an experiential learning activity that Butler implemented at Auburn where students plan their own funeral and, in the process, learned to apply consumer and marketing management concepts.

The majority of people do not have a funeral plan, which can lead to dissension among surviving family members as they may disagree on an array of important decisions regarding final arrangements for their loved one, Butler explained.

“There is little time to discuss issues.  There is little time to investigate various options,” Butler said, adding that families without plans are also at the mercy of funeral homes that may not have their best interests—like the amount they can pay—in mind.  “This leads to decisions and broken emotions that may not heal for the remainder of one’s lifetime.”

This activity especially resonated with Butler’s Executive MBA students—more than 95% of whom highly recommended the assignment, noted Butler.

As a retiree, Butler will be able to spend more time with his wife Lisa and daughters Amanda and Samantha. After a bit of non-university travel and catching up with friends, he looks forward to giving back through community volunteer organizations and to “be available to help where I can.” 

“I’ll make time to walk every day, fish occasionally and enjoy the wonders of the world. I also intend to continue to thank people every day for what they contribute to the world around them. I am one very lucky and blessed individual.”

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