Nadia Butler has walked through doors and shattered glass ceilings that many women can't imagine, and she is still blazing trails.

The president and CEO of emergency management software firm Emergency Services Integrators has risen to become the head of one of the nation's fastest-growing private companies, according to Inc. magazine.

The Augusta-based company, known as ESi, was founded at Savannah River Site in 1996 and has more than 400 clients worldwide, including many U.S. government agencies and Fortune 500 corporations.

The company's software and operations center has aided in natural disasters and emergencies such as Sept. 11 and the 2005 London terrorist bombings.

Ms. Butler, who joined the company in 2005, took the CEO's reins last year, a pivotal period in which the company moved into a new headquarters on Broad Street, opened branch locations across the country and posted record annual sales of $10 million.

"Under Nadia's leadership, we have doubled the size of the company," ESi founder Jim Fulton said.

With a resume that includes executive and management positions in nuclear engineering and technology, Ms. Butler is a role model to the firm's 62 employees.

"She is one of the most intelligent and interesting people that I've ever encountered," said Anne Murray Sims, ESi's communications director.

Ms. Sims, who retired from operating the media office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, says she decided to re-enter the workforce after she met Ms. Butler and other company leaders.

Ms. Sims refers to Ms. Butler as "very low key," but says her quiet strength is what makes her so influential.

While many leaders are focused on the bottom line, Ms. Butler is genuinely concerned about her employees' well-being, Ms. Sims said.

"It's really amazing to see someone at that level of an organization care so deeply about personal satisfaction for all employees," Ms. Sims said. "She's a wonderful cheerleader and friend to everyone."

A focus on learning

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Ms. Butler and her family moved to the United States in 1957, when she was 3 years old. She became a U.S. citizen in 1963.

Her parents, Aly and Ehsan Dayem, settled in New Providence, N.J., and her father accepted a job as a researcher for Bell Laboratories. Ms. Butler says her father, who held a doctorate in electrical engineering, was the stereotypical scientist and lived for research. Early on, he emphasized the importance of education.

"Our education was the most important thing in our lives," Ms. Butler said.

Mr. Dayem helped his children with their studies, and they were never allowed to stay home from school unless they were sick enough to go to the doctor.

"He instilled in me a very deep respect and love for learning," she said.

Ms. Butler treasured the arts and enjoyed writing and playing the piano throughout her high school years.

She attended the University of Maryland and decided to become a clinical psychologist. After one year, she discovered that this wasn't the path for her, and her father urged her to become a scientist instead.

Ms. Butler took his advice and majored in nuclear engineering. She graduated at the top of her class in 1976.

"At the time, I was the only woman in all of my classes,' she said.

During her studies, Ms. Butler also worked as an intern at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and was offered a job on graduation. When she graduated, though, the nuclear industry in the U.S. was coming to an end. The industry had changed its focus to an entirely new area -- managing radioactive waste.

"It was really a fascinating time," Ms. Butler said. She had the opportunity to work with scientists from across the country.

At 23, Ms. Butler was selected to serve as a U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in Vienna, Austria. The organization, which oversees nuclear activity around the world, made her the representative of the world's pre-eminent group in nuclear power at the time.

The panel was composed of representatives from every country, mostly older men, she said. "It caused quite a stir when I walked in and sat down at the U.S. seat," she said.

The participants are seated in alphabetical order at a U-shape table, and the U.S. is assigned the second-to-last seat, Ms. Butler explained.

She did not receive the memo that the meeting was starting early, and she had to walk around the entire table until she finally got to her chair, an experience Ms. Butler says that she'll never forget.

In 1979, she accepted a job at Battelle Memorial Institute, a research and development company in Columbus, Ohio, where she quickly advanced to project manager. In 1981, she moved on to Jacobs Engineering Group in Washington, D.C., where she again rose to positions in management.

By the time she was 35, she became an operations manager for the company, a position that is usually reserved for people in their 40s. She had $50 million in total contracts under her direction.

"Frequently, I was the first woman engineer that most of my colleagues had ever worked with," Ms. Butler said

On the surface, that this might appear to be a challenge, she said, but as she voiced her opinions and began to hold her own, people started to notice her.

"Proving yourself is a bit difficult," Ms. Butler acknowledged. "I think that's the real difficulty for women who are advancing through the ranks."

Often, a young man who is striving for a position that is slightly out of his reach will be rewarded with the job if he is doing well, she said, but a woman must already be filling the role before a chance would be taken on her.

"I think it's so important for women to understand that there's nothing outside of their capabilities" because so many women are intimidated by math and science, she said.

Ms. Butler says that she considers it vital to "view each person as an individual."

"I feel very strongly that no one should ever be labeled by whatever they are," she said.

A start in business

Ms. Butler needed a change in 1989, and she began to listen to her mentor's advice that she could excel in business.

Initially, she was reluctant to accept the recommendation because research was hailed in her family, but she decided to accept his guidance.

Ms. Butler moved to New York to become a vice president and manager at Roy F. Weston Inc. and then took a job as manager of business development for the French nuclear technology firm NUMATIC, where she crossed paths with Savannah River Site in 1994.

The contract for a facility at SRS was up for bid, and Ms. Butler was selected as nuclear manager for the project.

During a trip to California, she met Paul Butler, who was then leading the contract proposal effort.

He says it was love at first sight.

"I knew it immediately. Not a doubt in my mind," he said.

He asked her to marry him three days later, and the couple wed within two months.

They lived in Washington, where they traveled frequently as consultants. Ms. Butler became the vice president of operations for Thermo Technology Ventures, a small subsidiary of Boston-based Thermo Electron Co., where she managed the formation of new business ventures based on emerging U.S. Department of Energy technologies.

Jim Fulton, meanwhile, was in Augusta working as manager of Emergency Services at SRS when he developed an idea for a business.

In 1994, the Energy Department launched a program to identify and "spin out" technologies that were developed within the department that could bring value if turned into private companies.

Mr. Fulton submitted an application for Westinghouse Savannah River Co. to be considered, which allowed him to meet Ms. Butler.

Ms. Butler assisted ESi's three original founders and owners, Mr. Fulton and his co-workers John O'Dell and Curt MacDonald, in preparing a business plan, and ESi was started in 1996.

A global leader

ESi had five employees when the company was created: its three founders and two additional Westinghouse employees, Maria McKinney and Carlos Markyna.

Initially, ESi was focused on designing public safety answering points such as 911 centers and integrating dispatcher systems.

The company developed the Universal Dispatcher, the first product of its type in the public safety industry worldwide.

In 1999, ESi underwent a merger when it was purchased by CML Technologies, but the two companies split in 2001, and ESi refocused its efforts on emergency management.

Mr. Butler joined ESi as a full-time employee and owner in 2000. In 2005, Ms. Butler became a full-time employee and owner.

Today, ESi's five owners are close to equal partners in the business, Ms. Butler said.

"We have no outside investment, which means that we're free to make all of the decisions for the company," she said.

The company has developed WebEOC software, which has catapulted ESi to global industry status. Ms. Butler says the product is the world's first Web-enabled crisis information management system, and it allows emergency management organizations to function without a physical operations center.

ESi also offers its customers access to installation, maintenance, training and 24-7 support.

The company's systems are used worldwide by customers such as NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, Agriculture, Health & Human Services and Homeland Security. Other clients include state and local government agencies, health care providers, airlines and Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Boeing, Delta Air Lines and Lockheed Martin.

Ms. Butler hails ESi as a "homegrown company."

"It wasn't an overnight success. It was a lot of long, hard work that is finally paying off," she said.

Mr. Butler describes his wife's leadership style as a "consensus builder," which benefits ESi because it is a diverse company, he said.

"Everybody respects her, but they also like her because she is very warm and giving. People seem to gather around her," he said. "She can be tough when she wants to be, but she does manage by agreement."

Good for the employees

Ms. Sims says that Ms. Butler considers customer service to be a top priority and that she is extremely dedicated to her employees.

"She's constantly trying to give them opportunities to grow," Ms. Sims said. "She wants people to be happy and fulfilled, so if they want to make a job change within the company, she tries to accommodate that."

Ms. Sims says that Ms. Butler works to develop jobs that suit the personalities and skills of her employees, which is rare in corporate America.

Ms. Butler is also focused on employee fitness and provides free gym membership for all employees, she said.

During the remodeling of the Broad Street building, Ms. Butler insisted that showers and lockers be installed to allow employees to exercise during the day, she said.

She is starting a yoga group at ESi, and she recently held a half-day seminar on health awareness to teach employees about relaxation and personal health.

"I think she's just exceptional," Ms. Sims said. She says she has been "doubly blessed" to have such a wonderful second career.

Ms. Butler says that she makes an effort to encourage her employees.

"I have always believed that people work best when they're doing something they really care about," she said.

Almost one-half of her senior staffers are women, which is unusual for a company of ESi's type and size.

She believes that it is important to listen to everyone because each person offers a different perspective.

"All the knowledge and wisdom isn't held with the senior people of the company," Ms. Butler said. "The young guys have wild and crazy ideas, and sometimes those ideas are the best ones."

She is driven

"She has the most interesting and diverse hobbies," Ms. Sims said.

Ms. Butler's interests including traveling, cycling, yoga, triathlons, growing orchids, and collecting and making sculptures.

Ms. Sims recently nominated Ms. Butler to serve as a trustee for the Augusta Ballet.

"She is very dedicated to the arts and to making the arts available to everyone." Ms. Sims said.

Ms. Butler has traveled to almost every country in Europe and has visited South Africa, Morocco, Singapore, India, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia.

Last year, she visited Budapest, Hungary, where she found a sculpture that she displays in her office. She frequently brings back art from her travels, such as the hand-crafted table from Florence, Italy, found in ESi's lobby.

Among her favorite sculptures are the Shona stone pieces from her trip to Zimbabwe.

"I love traveling because it gives you an incredible perspective on the variety of cultures," she said. Ms. Butler said that traveling helps to reinvigorate her perspective.

She is a dedicated cyclist who rides with a group from Outspokin' Bicycles on Walton Way each Saturday.

Brett Ardrey, the owner, says that Ms. Butler is passionate about the sport and rides 30-45 miles on average. When she has extra time, she will ride 50-plus miles and has even completed 100-mile rides, he said.

Ms. Butler has participated in international triathlons, which consist of a 25-mile bike ride, a 6-mile run and 0.9-mile swim.

In addition, she has a green thumb, and has two greenhouses filled with orchids. Mr. Butler says that his wife has about 600 species.

"She tends them and orders them from all over the world," he said.

Always a gardener, Ms. Butler said she fell in love with orchids when she passed by an orphans' table at a nursery and saw three orchid plants that weren't doing well. She took them home and started caring for them.

"They say that once an orchid blooms for you, you're pretty much in trouble," she said. She began to collect them, and her hobby grew into a passion.

She does not grow orchids for competition; she considers the plants to be her "sanctuary" and simply enjoys being around them.

Ms. Butler has an orchid named in her honor, Vanda Nadia Butler Plum Delicious, a gift from the growers, R.F. Orchids, in Homestead, Fla.

"My interests are endless, but my principal focus right now is on the company," Ms. Butler said. "For the owners of the company, this is basically what we think about all the time."

Ms. Butler says that she is at the tail end of her career but is enjoying her time at ESi. Her dream is for ESi to "keep growing and still maintain what makes us so special."

"In all of my 30 years of business life, I don't think I've ever had an experience like this. It really is an extraordinary company," she said.

Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.