Dr. Todd S. Hutton spent 18 years as the president of Utica College, from 1998-2016, and was the first president selected by an independent Board of Trustees.
While guiding the College into a new era in its history and striving to move it to the forefront of small private colleges and universities, Dr. Hutton continued to honor the College’s core values by nurturing and encouraging the warm, intimate atmosphere and personal attention upon which Utica College has prided itself for more than 60 years. At the same time, Utica College has garnered international acclaim for its entrepreneurial spirit, its innovative academic programs, and its highly accomplished faculty.
Under Dr. Hutton’s leadership, Utica College witnessed dramatic growth and transformation. At the time of his retirement UC had grown into an institution that offered 22 graduate programs, including two professional doctoral programs, online programs that served more than 1,700 students, and an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program with locations in Syracuse, NY and St. Petersburg, FL.
In addition, the College’s varsity athletic programs had grown in number from 12 to the current total of 26, and the College has constructed a number of new facilities, including two new academic buildings, three residence halls, Charles A. Gaetano Stadium, the Harold T. Clark, Sr. Team Facility, and, most recently, the Cynkus Family Welcome Center and the Todd and Jen Hutton Sports and Recreation Center. In addition, the College began undergoing a multi-year, multi-phased renovation of its science center.
Dr. Hutton oversaw a freshman enrollment which increased by 109 percent, while the overall student body (undergraduate, graduate, and online students) had grown by 126 percent, surpassing a headcount of 4,450 students before his retirement.
His interests also included local, regional, and national issues related to the integration of athletics into the educational life of campuses. He served a term as president of the Empire 8 athletic conference, where he was also the inaugural chair of the conference’s Presidents’ Council. In 2005, the prestigious Institute for International Sport named Dr. Hutton a Sports Ethics Fellow for his commitment to sportsmanship, citing his efforts to maintain balance between athletics and academics for student athletes.
Throughout his career at UC, Dr. Hutton was actively involved in numerous professional associations and community organizations, including the Mohawk Valley Health System, the Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce, and the United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica Area, to name just a few.
