Calvin Otis Butts III (July 19, 1949 – October 28, 2022) was an American academic administrator and a senior pastor of the

Abyssinian Baptist Church The Abyssinian Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 132 West 138th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the National Baptist Conv ...

, which historically was the largest black church in New York City. He led the Abyssinian Development Corporation, which focuses on

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

, and was president of the

State University of New York College at Old Westbury The State University of New York College at Old Westbury (SUNY at Old Westbury) is a public college in Old Westbury, New York, with portions in the neighboring town of Jericho, New York. It enrolls just over 5,000 students. History The State Uni ...

Early life and education

Calvin Butts III was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut,ReligionMakers: Rev. Calvin O. Butts
, The History Makers. on July 19, 1949. His father, Calvin Otis Butts II, worked as a cook and butcher; his mother, Eloise (Edwards), was employed as a supervisor for the New York City welfare department. Soon, the family moved to

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, where he attended public schools. He spent summers in rural

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

with his grandmothers. Elected president of his senior class, Butts graduated from

Flushing High School Flushing High School is a four-year public high school in Flushing, in the New York City borough of Queens. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. As of the 2020-21 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1 ...

in 1967. He was awarded a partial scholarship to study at

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliation ...

, where he joined the

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity. There, he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in philosophy. After returning to New York, he earned from Union Theological Seminary a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

in church history, and from

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (abbreviated DMin or D.Min.) is a professional doctorate, often including a research component, that may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in some form of ministry. It is categorized as an advance ...

in church and public policy.

Career

Butts joined the

in Harlem, traditionally New York City's largest and preeminent black church, as a youth minister in 1972. For decades its senior pastor, he also delivered a weekly sermon by radio on a local station, 98.7 FM (KISS-FM). During the late 1980s, Butts offered an early endorsement of the Harlem Week of Prayer, organized by

Pernessa C. Seele Pernessa C. Seele (born October 15, 1954) is an American immunologist and interfaith public health activist. Seele is the CEO and founder of Balm in Gilead, Inc., a religious-based organization that provides support to people with AIDS and thei ...

, and helped mobilize the religious community to support programs for AIDS patients and their families. Butts founded the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC) in 1989, which he later chaired. The corporation is an arm of the church that undertook community projects, including the first high school constructed in Harlem in half a century, as well as several of the first national retail chain stores in the area. The ADC also oversaw the construction of one of Harlem's first new full-service supermarkets, a department store, and a shopping center. It went on to own over 1,100 rental units, which were leased almost exclusively for low-income residents.Timothy Williams, "Powerful Harlem Church Is Also a Powerful Harlem Developer"
''New York Times'', August 17, 2008, accessed January 23, 2009. In 1995, Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went ...

appointed Butts to two of New York state's economic development boards – the

Empire State Development Corporation Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). T ...

and the New York State Science and Technology Foundation – both of which controlled loans and grants to businesses. In 2003, Butts ordained

Conrad Tillard Conrad Bennette Tillard (born September 15, 1964) is an American Baptist minister, radio host, activist, politician, and author. Tillard was in his early years a prominent minister of the black nationalist organization the Nation of Islam (NOI). ...

, who became a preacher at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. From 1999 to 2020, Butts was the president of the

State University of New York at Old Westbury The State University of New York College at Old Westbury (SUNY at Old Westbury) is a public college in Old Westbury, New York, with portions in the neighboring town of Jericho, New York. It enrolls just over 5,000 students. History The State Un ...

."President's Biography"
, SUNY College at Old Westbury, accessed January 23, 2009. In turn, Butts received honorary degrees from a number of colleges, including the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

Claflin College Claflin University is a private historically black university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Founded in 1869 after the American Civil War by northern missionaries for the education of freedmen and their children, it offers bachelor's and master ...

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of ...

Hartwick College Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York. The institution's origin is rooted in the founding of Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick. In 1927, the Seminary moved to expand into a ...

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German patriarch of Luther ...

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, and

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was ...

Personal life and death

Butts was married to Patricia Reed Butts, who founded the health ministry at her husband's church, until his death. They had three children and six grandchildren. Butts died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...

on October 28, 2022, at his home in

, at age 73.

References

External links

Abyssinian Baptist ChurchState University of New York at Old WestburyAbyssinian Development Corporation
Official Website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butts, Calvin O. 1949 births 2022 deaths Morehouse College alumni Drew University alumni State University of New York at Old Westbury faculty African-American Baptist ministers American radio personalities Activists for African-American civil rights 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American activists People from Bridgeport, Connecticut Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in New York (state)