Dr. William Hutchinson (1909-1997) was a cancer surgeon and the founder of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Hutchinson believed that research rather than surgery would ultimately provide the answer to fighting cancer, and he fought to establish a cancer research center in Seattle. In 1956, he helped found the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, which studied cancer, heart surgery and endocrine diseases. By the early 1960s, Hutchinson's goal was to create a center devoted solely to cancer research.
In 1964, William Hutchinson’s younger brother and professional baseball player Fred Hutchinson died of lung cancer at age 45. The next year, William founded the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (soon renamed Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) as part of the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation. In 1973, after several years of fundraising and political wrangling, ground broke at the site on First Hill where the new Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (nicknamed “the Hutch” or “Fred Hutch”) building would be constructed. The Hutch quickly became a world leader in cancer research and treatment, especially working on mitigating harmful effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and on bone marrow transplants. In 1991, the Hutch moved to its current (as of 2024) location at the south end of Lake Union.
This March 1982 image shows William Hutchinson and two unidentified technicians working in a tissue culture lab at the Hutch. Seattle was about to host the 13th International Cancer Congress, and was chosen in part for the Hutch’s presence.
Caption information source: “Hutchinson, Dr. William B. (1909-1997)”, by Louis Fiset, HistoryLink, retrieved from https://www.historylink.org/File/7183. Caption information source: “Cancer 'fighters’ will meet in Seattle” by Julie Smith, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 5, 1982, page B8.
