Overview

Dr Stella Butler is Honorary Research Fellow in the History of Science at University College London

Between 2011 and 2020 Stella was University Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection at the University of Leeds. She previously worked at the University of Manchester as Head of Special Collections and latterly as Deputy University Librarian.

Stella was educated at the University of Manchester and has a PhD in the History of Science and Medicine. Stella’s research has explored the relationship between science and medical practice; the history of hospitals; the development of orthopaedics; the history of microscopy. Between 2014 and 2017, she chaired the academic advisory group for the UK Medical Heritage Library, a project jointly funded by Jisc and the Wellcome Trust.

She is currently Chair of the Arts Council England Panel which awards designation status to collections of national importance in museums, libraries and archives in England. She is an advocate for the importance of personal archives in broadening our understanding of the development of scientific ideas and the relationship between scientific practice and belief. She is currently exploring the history of crystallography.