A Legacy of Learning: Sylvia Hutchinson’s gift to UGA’s future doctors
By: Halleigh Woods
For Sylvia Hutchinson (BSED ’61, MED ’62, PHD ’76), teaching has always been the center of her universe. She arrived at the University of Georgia as an undergraduate, returned for graduate study with a fellowship and ultimately completed a doctorate in reading education. Across four decades on faculty and well into retirement, she has kept one guiding promise to herself and her students: never stop teaching.
“Every day I step on campus is a reward,” Hutchinson says. “I cannot imagine not teaching.”
Her latest act of generosity carries that promise forward. Hutchinson has endowed a scholarship for UGA students pursuing medicine through the forthcoming UGA School of Medicine. The award will support future physicians who pair academic excellence with empathy, cultural literacy and a heart for service.
The inspiration for the scholarship began with a seminar Hutchinson created nearly 25 years ago and is still being offered today. The discussion-based course helps pre-med students cultivate empathy and understanding. Capping the class at 10 students each semester allows Hutchinson to offer tailored feedback and personal mentorship, empowering students to grow more confident as they prepare for medical school.
Hutchinson frequently brings in guest speakers to give her students additional context for what they learn in class.
The seminar covers the MCAT in practical terms as well as other parts of preparation that often go overlooked. Visiting clinicians and faculty, several of whom once sat in Hutchinson’s class, discuss patient relationships and problem-based learning, helping students gain familiarity with medical schools’ interactive approach.
A hallmark of the course is guiding students through their personal statements. Hutchinson encourages them to “say what you bring to the table without being pompous,” to open with a line that keeps an admissions reader turning the page and to leave room for an interviewer to ask, “tell me more.” After hundreds of statements, no two have ever been alike. Some describe hardship with determination; others express gratitude for strong family support. All are honest and ready for discussion.
“I tell them to think of me as their academic grandmother,” she says. “There is tough love in my edits, but it comes from care.”
Hutchinson’s mentoring extends well beyond the seminar. She remains connected with former students who now practice medicine nationwide. Many write to thank her for a course that helped them find their purpose and a mentor who encouraged humility and compassion in their work.
“It’s such a full-circle moment to be practicing medicine in the very field Professor Hutchinson’s class first introduced me to,” said Dr. Kathryn Sellman, a former student and geriatrician with the Virginia Commonwealth University Health Home-Based Primary Care team. “She helped me connect what practicing medicine truly looks like with the kinds of patients I envisioned caring for.”
Hutchinson’s scholarship at the UGA School of Medicine will support students as they pursue a medical education.
Beyond her scholarship for the School of Medicine, Hutchinson has strengthened graduate education through the Graduate Education Advancement Board and the McCoy-Hutchinson Mentoring Academy. She has funded emergency support for graduate students who start families or face unexpected expenses and given to the Honors Program so students can pursue summer research without added work. She has also honored professors, classmates and mentors through named gifts in the Mary Frances Early College of Education where she once served as associate dean. In 2019, she was recognized with the President’s Medal for a lifetime of teaching, mentoring and service.
“As a student, I was fortunate to have an exceptional mentor,” she reflects. “Giving back is my way of saying thank you to the university and ensuring other students feel that same support.”
Scholarships for the School of Medicine are a high priority for UGA, and Hutchinson hopes her gift inspires others to consider their own. Her advice is simple: give where your heart is. Choose a cause that brings joy, decide what you can give and when you can give it, and let your gift reflect the people who shaped you.
“Giving should feel like happiness,” she says. “If it doesn’t bring you joy, rethink it. When you support students and honor the mentors who changed your life, that joy lasts.”
A teacher. A mentor. A philanthropist. Through her endowed scholarship and a lifetime of care, Sylvia Hutchinson continues to shape UGA and the future physicians who will serve Georgia and beyond.
