He was an Occupational and Aerospace Medicine Physician. He earned a BS in Physical Sciences at Auburn University in 1976 and his M.D. from the University of South Alabama in 1980. He served a Residency in Family Practice at the university until 1983. He graduated with an MPH in environmental and Occupational Health Services from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1994, followed by a Residency in Aerospace Medicine in 1995 and a Residency in Occupational Medicine in 1996, both at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. He served in the U.S. Air Force for 30 years. He was board-certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in both Aerospace and Occupational Medicine, the American Board of Family Practice, and the American Association of Medical Review Officers.

From 1998-1999, he served as a Physician Advisor – Utilization Manager at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). In 1999, he became Medical Director at St. Mary’s Occupational Medicine Clinic in Evansville, IN, where he was Chair of the Ambulatory Medicine Department and a member of the Hospital Medical Executive Committee. In 2010, he took a position as an Occupational Medicine Consultant at Evansville Occupational Medicine and, in that same year, became an Occupational Medicine Consultant for Orthopaedic Associates. He also served as a Senior Federal Aviation Administration Medical Examiner and was a private pilot. He was a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Aerospace Medical Association. He was also a member of the International Council of Motorsports Sciences and the American Society of Aeromedical Specialists. He was presented with the George Snively Award from the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) for his work assembling physicians to serve on the SCCA Medical Review Board and for authoring the Club’s “loss of consciousness” policy that other organizations then followed.

Online obituaries can be found at https://www.scca.com/articles/2020312-dr-james-w-butler-1949-2026 and https://www.courierpress.com/obituaries/psbn1403810.