MZA is proud to announce the addition of Dr. R. Russell Butts to its Technical Staff. Dr. Butts is a world-renowned expert in the area of directed energy weapons systems, with specific emphasis in atmospheric propagation and compensation. He has given nearly thirty years of service to our country as an Air Force officer and civil servant at the Air Force Research Laboratory and it's predecessors. In 2001, the Secretary of Defense awarded Dr. Butts the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the highest award given to career Defense employees.

During a break from civil service, he supported directed energy research as an analyst and department manager at Logicon/RDA where he mentored Steve Coy and Bob Praus, the principals of MZA. He also taught Mathematics at North Texas State and Mississippi State Universities. He's earned B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mathematics and has significant additional course work and training in Physics and Engineering. In 2003, Dr. Butts' contributions to the field led to his selection as a Fellow of the Directed Energy Professional Society. He is author or co-author of more than 65 technical publications, most of which are detailed reports and many of which cover ground-breaking research in the areas of atmospheric propagation and compensation. Dr. Butts will provide senior review and direction to nearly all MZA's directed energy projects. For the past fifteen years he has played an important role in the leadership of others. He now wishes to rekindle his detailed participation in simulation and modeling, so he'll be deeply involved in technical work.