1. Early life and education

2. Journalism career

3. Philanthropy

4. Political career

5. Personal life

6. References

7. External links

Susan Hutchison (born March 24, 1954) is an American former television news journalist, former Chair of the Seattle Symphony, and former Executive Director of the $100 million Simonyi Fund for the Arts & Sciences in Seattle, Washington.

Hutchison has served on the boards of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Children's Hospital, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and the Salvation Army.

Hutchison spent most of her 25-year career as a journalist at KIRO-TV news in Seattle, where she received five Emmy Awards for writing and producing.

Hutchison's husband, Andy, was an executive with the Boeing Company.

Hutchison served as Chair of the Washington State Republican Party for five years ^[1][2] and was a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018.^[3]

Early life and education

Hutchison was born Susan Sylvester at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, the daughter of Elaine (Winderling) and George Sylvester.^[4] Her father was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. A 1949 West Point graduate, he flew transports, then became a fighter pilot in the mid-1960s and commanded an F-4 squadron in South Vietnam at Da Nang.^[5][5] As a military daughter and the second of three children,^[6] she was raised in various locations and attended Niceville High School in the panhandle of Florida and transferred in 1970 to Annandale High School in Annandale, Virginia, a suburb southwest of Washington, D.C. After graduation in 1972,^[7] she enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1975.^[8][9]

Journalism career

Hutchison began her journalism career writing a daily sports article for the Florida Alligator student newspaper. Upon graduation from college in 1975, she was hired by an affiliate of the American Broadcasting Company. In 1978, she was hired as the weekend sports anchor and producer for KITV news in Honolulu, Hawaii.^[5] She became the weekend news anchor, and then the weekday evening news anchor and producer.^[10] After being spotted by a Seattle television executive, Hutchison was hired in January 1981 as a TV news anchor for the CBS affiliate in Seattle, KIRO-TV.^[10] She worked as the evening anchor for more than 20 years, earning five regional Emmy Awards.^[10] Hutchinson was terminated from KIRO-TV in July 2002 for falsely calling in sick while going canoeing in Bend, Oregon and after a heated confrontation with her supervisor over why he was spending so much time with a female co-worker. She later sued KIRO for discrimination after the station replaced her as nightly news anchor with a younger Asian woman.^[11]

Philanthropy

Hutchison was the Executive Director of the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, leading the $100 million foundation from its inception.^[12][13] The foundation provided grants for projects in arts, science, and education totaling over $100 million, under the theme of Access to Excellence.^[14]

Hutchison serves as an officer of the following boards: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Washington, DC), Finance Chair (present) of Young Life International, Vice Chair (present) All-Star Orchestra, Vice President (present) and Chair (2006-2009) Seattle Symphony, and on the following boards: Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation, Discovery Institute, and Salvation Army.^[14] She also has been a spokesperson for the American Leprosy Mission, Northwest Medical Teams, Job Corps, and March of Dimes, and has emceed charitable auctions, fundraising events and dinners.^[15][16]

Her civic involvement includes the Governor’s A+ Commission on Education, National Collegiate Athletic Association Committee on Compliance, the King County Independent Task Force on Elections, and the Chancellor’s Advisory Council for Seattle Community Colleges.

Political career

In 2005, Hutchison was one of ten people appointed by King County Executive Ron Sims to the King County Independent Task Force on Elections, commissioned to make recommendations to improve the election process after the contested gubernatorial election of 2004.^[17]

When Sims stepped down in April 2009, Hutchison announced her candidacy for the non-partisan office of King County Executive.^[18] Hutchison won the primary election with 37% of the vote and finished second in the general election against Dow Constantine, with just over 40% of the vote.^[19][20]

Personal life

In 1976, she married high school classmate Andy Hutchison, an executive for the Boeing Company. He is a retired Marine Corps colonel and a 1976 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. They have two sons who graduated from Seattle public schools. Her father, George H. Sylvester (1927–2015), retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1981 as a lieutenant general.^[6][5][21]

References

External links

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