June Dobbs Butts, an accomplished researcher and childhood friend of Martin Luther King Jr., died Monday from complications from a stroke.

“She was one month shy of 91,” said Wendy Eley Jackson, a member of the family.

Butts graduated from Spelman College and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University. She taught in colleges and a medical school before being trained as a sex therapist by the famed American team of William Masters and Virginia Johnson. She served as a visiting scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and she also served on the board of Planned Parenthood.

Butts was the daughter of John Wesley Dobbs, a notable African American civic leader in Atlanta. Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first African American mayor, was her nephew.

Wendy Jackson said Butts loved traveling the world and was a pioneer in many ways.

Services will be held June 11, she said.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com