Robert E. Hutchinson, Jr. '77
(Awarded 2012)

Being a servant-leader in the Davidson model takes two strong attributes: a nimble ability to respond to immediate needs and perseverance for the long haul. Rob Hutchinson has both.

You may not know that Rob completed the Reykjavik, Iceland Marathon in August 2010, and the following month summited Little Bear Peak in Colorado. The kicker: Little Bear was the last of Colorado's 54 peaks taller than 14,000 feet that Rob had summited-a quest that took him 25 years.

Responding to immediate needs is also a skilled perspective Rob has honed in the 35 years since graduation. Most poignantly, he and a group of close friends of classmate Tony Snow rallied around Tony's widow Jill and their children, just as these same Davidson friends rally around Tony's memory in the life of the college.

Young "Robby" Hutchinson was the first of five siblings to attend Davidson over a span of a dozen years, including Roy in '78, Anna in '80, David in '84 and John in '89. Rob led the effort to create an endowed scholarship in the name of their parents, Robert and Mary Joanna Hutchinson, to support families with more than one Davidson student attending college at the same time. Beneficiaries are already matriculating on the campus the Hutchinsons love, and the Hutchinson Scholarship will persevere for years to come.

At Davidson, Rob was on Quips and Cranks and The Davidsonian. He played men's baseball and IMAC sports, trained in ROTC, and was named to the Omicron Delta Kappa honorary leadership and service society and Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges before graduating with an English major and going on to receive a master's in public and private management from Yale University.

Approaching a milestone of 25 years with Goldman Sachs, Rob serves as a spirited mentor for Davidson students and a strong recruitment advisor for the Office of Career Services. He and his wife Catherine opened their gracious Atlanta home to alumni at a time when, perhaps not entirely coincidentally, the Atlanta alumni chapter's growth had outpaced even Charlotte's. Rob and Catherine also contributed an actual member of the Atlanta chapter, in the person of their son Nathaniel '09.

For your flexibility and tenacity in expressing your love for alma mater; for your good humor and good grace in bringing forward what is needed in the moment with an eye trained on the future; for your nimbleness of mind and perseverance of action in the life of alma mater; the Alumni Association is proud to honor you, Robert Elwyn Hutchinson, with the Alumni Service Award on the occasion of your 35th Reunion.