Carter T. Butts

Carter T. Butts is a Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Irvine, with primary appointments in the Department of Sociology (School of Social Sciences) and courtesy appointments in Statistics, Computer Science, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He is also affiliated with the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, Calit2, and multiple research centers including the UCI Center for Networks and Relational Analysis, which he founded.

• Education: Ph.D. (2002), M.S. (1998) in Sociology from Carnegie Mellon University; B.S. (1996) in Systems Theory from Duke University.

His research focuses on applying mathematical, computational, and statistical techniques to problems in social and biophysical network analysis, human decision-making, and molecular modeling. Key areas include discrete exponential family models for relational data, Bayesian network inference, machine learning for trajectory data, and improving organizational responses to disasters through interdisciplinary research. His lab, the Networks, Computation, and Social Dynamics Lab, integrates sociology, engineering, and biophysics.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Leo A. Goodman Early Career Award (2010)
  • Linton C. Freeman Award (2008)
  • William D. Richards Software Award (2019)
  • Kavli Fellowship
  • AAAS Fellowship (2018)

He serves as Associate Editor for Journal of the American Statistical Association (Applications and Case Studies) and contributes to editorial boards of Journal of Mathematical Sociology, Sociological Methodology, and Science. His teaching includes courses on social networks, decision-making, and computational methods.