DeVry picks new director, raises dividend

For-profit education company DeVry Inc. said Thursday it elected Gary Butler, the president and CEO of Automatic Data Processing Inc., to DeVry's board of directors.

DeVry said Butler, 64, becomes the twelfth member of the company's board. He will serve a term ending in 2011. Automatic Data Processing is a payroll processor, and Butler has been its CEO since 2006.

Downers Grove-based DeVry held its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday. It said Chairman Harold Shapiro and directors Connie Curran, Daniel Hamburger, and Ronald Taylor were all elected to new terms on the board. Their terms will end in 2013.

The board approved an increase in the company's annual dividend. The company said its dividend will rise to 24 cents from 20 cents. DeVry pays dividends twice a year, and it will pay a dividend of 12 cents on Jan. 10 to shareholders of record on Dec. 10.

The board also approved a new share repurchase program. The plan allows the company to buy back as much as $50 million in stock through Dec. 31, 2012. The newly approved repurchase plan will go into effect when DeVry's current $50 million stock buyback plan is complete.