Hutton Honors College

Honors College International Experiences Program Takes Name of its Founder

In a late afternoon ceremony at the residence of IUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm on April 28, the Honors College International Experiences Program officially became the Edward L. Hutton International Experiences Program.

Hutton, chairman of Chemed Corp. in Cincinnati and chairman of Omnicare Inc., grew up in the town of Bedford, Indiana, during the Depression. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees from IU, he served in the U.S. Army in Germany. After the war, he worked in Berlin in the occupational government's Export/Import Division, negotiating trade agreements with several countries to help rebuild the German economy.

"The experience profoundly changed my life, so much so that I've always held that those years of living and working abroad were the key to my development as a person and success as a businessman," Hutton says.

After his Army service, he moved to New York, continuing to work in international trade. In 1951, he joined W.R. Grace & Co., where he became a senior officer and director. Returning to the Midwest in the 1970s, Hutton became president, chief executive officer, and eventually chairman of Chemed and Omnicare, which is the leading firm in the United States supplying pharmaceuticals to nursing home patients.

The beneficiary of an IU scholarship and of mentoring from caring faculty members, Hutton has been generous in funding scholarships for students and endowed professorships for faculty at IU.

Hutton's early experiences in Europe inspired him to create the International Experiences Program in 2000. Hutton feels strongly that our leaders of tomorrow need to spend some time studying abroad and becoming exposed to other cultures. Since then the program has helped subsidize overseas experiences for more than 300 students. Recipients have traveled to five continents and to over 30 countries. The program helps pay travel and living expenses for IU Bloomington students so they can spend time working as interns, doing service or research, or studying abroad.

Hutton received the Herman B Wells Visionary Award from Indiana University last October. This award is given to individuals whose vision and entrepreneurial spirit have brought them to an extraordinary level of achievement in their professional endeavors and in their service to humanity. Hutton also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from IU in 1992.

In addition to Hutton, who spoke briefly about his commitment to fostering overseas experiences for all IU students, and Chancellor Brehm, who announced that recipients of IEP grants would henceforth be known as Hutton Scholars, other speakers at the ceremony included Vice Chancellor for Academic Support and Diversity Charlie Nelms, Dean of the Honors College Karen Hanson, and several student recipients of IEP grants.