Doug Cutchins has been Grinnell's Director of Social Commitment since 1999, and is the first person to hold this position at the college. As Director of Social Commitment, Doug administers the Grinnell Corps, advises students on post-graduation service opportunities, runs the college's nomination and selection processes for merit-based scholarships and fellowships, oversees fall and spring break service trips sponsored by Alternative Break and ReNew, advises the Student Government Association, and is the mentor for Grinnell's second-year Posse from Washington, DC.
A 1993 graduate of Grinnell College, where he majored in History and received a teaching certificate, Doug also holds an MA in History from the University of Connecticut. He has taught social studies in urban and rural schools in Iowa and North Carolina, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Suriname from 1995-1997. He has been awarded a James Madison Fellowship by the US government, was named an Honorary Class Member by the Grinnell College classes of 2002 and 2009, and, with his wife Anne Geissinger, was named as one of the inaugural Joseph F. Wall Sesquicentennial Service Award winners.
Doug is also the President of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors (NAFA), a professional organization for advisors for merit-based scholarship and fellowship competitions with over 200 member institutions. He was elected Vice-President of NAFA in 2009 after completing a four-year term on NAFA's board of directors; his term as president ends in summer 2013.
Doug has also served on the Boards of Directors of several organizations, including the Iowa Peace Institute for four years; Grinnell United Way for six years (two as President); and the Grinnell-Newburg School District (elected publicly in 2004 to a three-year term, including one year as vice-president and one year as president). Doug has also served Grinnell College as a member of the Prairie Studies executive committee for four years, and was a member of the 2005-06 class of Leadership Iowa. He is a living kidney donor and a mentor for prospective donors through the Central Iowa Transplant Association, and was a founding board member of Triathlons for Transplants. With his wife, Doug is the co-author of the last three editions of Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others, published by Chicago Review Press, with the next edition slated for publication in early 2012. They have two daughters, Emma and Beatrice, and live in Grinnell, IA.
