To say Tiffiny Butler chases her passions would be an understatement, as she serves as a leader in virtually every community she touches.
She had been the principal investigator on two National Science Foundation grants connecting underrepresented student groups with STEM training and education, including the $1 million Connecting Mentor Pairs for Academic Success in STEM grant. She led the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation at WPI and provided scholarships for research to more than 30 students, as well as mentoring and training to more than 200 students. Outside of WPI, she has run a Bible study in her home and served as a volunteer mentor and on the boards of Girls Inc. of Worcester and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass & MetroWest. But above all else, she is no island: Butler attributes her success to her ability to bring people together. After nearly eight years at WPI, her homestate university snatched her up; as of Aug. 2, she is the senior director of educational equity at Rutgers University.
If you could be any TV or movie character, who would you pick? Clair Huxtable. She reminds me of my own exceptionally wonderful mom.
What message would you now like to give your 10-year-old self? Tiffy, God’s grace is always sufficient. Your curly coils, dark skin, and curvy body are beautiful. You are not just clever. You are smart, so own it, and say it with your chest. Perfection is never what is required of you, only that you do your very best because it will always be enough.
