Claude B. Hutchison
Encyclopedia
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
from 1955 to 1963.
Hutchison was born on April 9, 1885 in Livingston County near Chillicothe, Missouri
Chillicothe, Missouri
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat of Livingston County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,515 at the 2010 census. The name "Chillicothe" is Shawnee for "big town", and was named after their Chillicothe, located since 1774 about a mile from the present-day city.Chillicothe is...
, the son of farmer William Moses Hutchison and his wife Ada Smith. He married Roxie Pritchard in 1908. They obtained their marriage license in Gallatin, Daviess County, Missouri. They were the parents of at least five children.
Hutchison was educated at the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
where he was also a founding member of FarmHouse
FarmHouse
FarmHouse Fraternity International, Inc. is an all-male international social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a nationally recognized fraternity in 1921. FarmHouse is one of only three fraternities not to adopt Greek letters...
fraternity. He held teaching positions at the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
and Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. At Cornell he taught genetics to Barbara McClintock
Barbara McClintock
Barbara McClintock , the 1983 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, was an American scientist and one of the world's most distinguished cytogeneticists. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1927, where she was a leader in the development of maize cytogenetics...
. Hutchison left Cornell for the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
where he was Professor of Agriculture from 1922 to 1952; Dean of the College of Agriculture from 1922 to 1925; and Vice President, University of California (system wide) from 1945 to 1952. When he left UC Davis he served as Dean of Agriculture at the University of Nevada
University of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno , is a teaching and research university established in 1874 and located in Reno, Nevada, USA...
until his retirement in 1954. From 1955 to 1963 he served as mayor of Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
.
In the 1920s, Hutchison went to Europe, serving as Director of Agricultural Education for the International Education Board in Paris. In the 1930s he was a director of the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.
Hutchison Hall on the campus of the University of California at Davis is named for him. He is also an member of Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega
Alpha Phi Omega is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members...
, Iota Phi chapter
Hutchison died August 25, 1980 at the age of 95.
His son Claude B. Hutchison Jr., a retired U.S. Navy Captain, ran and lost against Congressman Ron Dellums
Ron Dellums
Ronald Vernie "Ron" Dellums served as Oakland's forty-fifth mayor. From 1971 to 1998, he was elected to thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S...
in the 1980s. In November 2006, he was an appointee of the Bush Administration serving in the Department of Veterans Affairs
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
.