Dave Butler (basketball, born 1964/1965)

Dave Butler (born 1965 (age 38)) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He is the co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Dimensional Fund Advisors, a global investment firm.

Butler played college basketball for the California Golden Bears, twice leading them to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) after a 25-year postseason absence for the program. In his first season, he was honored as the top freshman player in the Pac-10 Conference (now Pac-12). He played professionally in Turkey and Japan.

Amateur
Butler played basketball at Rolling Hills High School in Rolling Hills Estates in Los Angeles County, California. His father and brother were alumni of Loyola Marymount University, who recruited Butler to play college basketball. However, Butler chose to play for the California Golden Bears.

At the University of California, Berkeley, Butler began his career as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 1983. Under first-year coach Lou Campanelli, the Bears qualified for the 1986 NIT, the school's first postseason appearance since 1960. Butler led the team that season in rebounding with 7.9 per game, and was second in scoring (11.8) behind Kevin Johnson. Earlier that season on January 25, 1986, Butler had 23 points and 10 rebounds in one of the best games in his career, as the Bears won 75–67 to snap a 52-game losing streak to the UCLA Bruins.

Cal returned to the NIT in 1987, advancing to the quarterfinals. Butler finished his career at Cal with the school record for games started (113), and also left fourth in Cal history in career rebounds (814) and seventh in scoring (1,291).

Butler graduated with a Bachelor of Science in marketing and finance in 1986, and was a Rhodes Scholar candidate. He was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011, and named to the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2014.

Professional
A 6 ft forward, Butler was drafted by the Boston Celtics of National Basketball Association (NBA) in the fifth round of the 1987 NBA draft, but chose to play professionally in Turkey. In his only season there in Istanbul, he suffered a major calf injury that all but eliminated any possibility of him playing in the NBA. He played one more year in Japan with the Isuzu Motors Lynx.

Post-basketball career
Butler returned to Cal and earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Haas School of Business in 1990. He worked with Merrill Lynch for three years before joining Dimensional Fund Advisors in 1995.

Prior to being named Co-CEO in 2017, Butler led the firm's global financial services group. In the 25 years since he joined Dimensional, the firm's assets under management have grown from roughly $10 billion to over $600 billion.

Personal life
Butler's younger brother, Greg, played college basketball for Cal's rival, Stanford, before also playing professionally in the NBA.