UF Health names chief diversity officer
Lakesha Butler, Pharm.D. Photo provided.
Lakesha Butler, Pharm.D., a professor of pharmacy practice and director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Southern Illinois University deeply trained in facilitating diversity-related discussion and policy change, has been named UF Health’s associate vice president for inclusion, diversity and health equity and chief diversity officer. She starts Aug. 22.
Butler comes to the university’s academic health center from Southern Illinois University’s Edwardsville School of Pharmacy.
In her new role, Butler will collaborate with diversity liaisons in the six health colleges, the UF Health hospitals in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Central Florida, and the Lake Nona campus in Orlando. She will also work closely with the university’s chief diversity officer.
Butler has nearly 20 years of experience as a pharmacy professor, during which time she has published academic papers, textbooks and other research related to pharmacy education and diversity-related topics. She is a frequent invited speaker at national conferences and meetings sharing inclusive best practices with health care practitioners and educators.