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, and oversees the Alternative Break program.

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 currently the national vice-president of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors (NAFA), and will serve a two-year term as president of that organization beginning in 2011. He completed a four-year term on NAFA's board of directors in 2009.

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 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. They have two daughters, Emma and Beatrice.