Arthur M. Butt has worked on glial cells for almost 40 years. For his PhD, he worked at King’s College London and the Marine Laboratories Plymouth, working with Joan Abbott, a world leader in blood-brain barrier research. Arthur did his postdoctoral research at Yale University with Bruce Ransom, an inspirational glial cell biologist who with Helmut Kettennmann founded the journal Glia, which provided a phenomenal boost to glial research. Arthur obtained his first independent position at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals, London, where he worked with the late great Professor Martin Berry, a leader in nervous system regeneration.