Virginia Cutler

Early years

Virginia Farrer Cutler was born on December 17, 1905, in Park City, Utah. Her parents were Robert and Mary Farrer, both natives of Sandy, Utah. Robert Farrer worked as an electrical engineer and Mary Anna (Jensen) Farrer held volunteer positions in the LDS Church while working in the home caring for Virginia and her six siblings. Cutler grew up in Murray, Utah and graduated from Murray High School in 1922. At that time, Cutler entered and won a local home economics competition, for which she was awarded a four-year scholarship to the University of Utah. During her time at the University of Utah, Cutler participated in the school’s home economics club. She graduated in 1927 with a degree in Education. With her degree, Cutler went on to teach high school economics first in Manti, Utah and in the Jordan School District a short time later. While working at Jordan, Cutler met her husband, Ralph Garr Cutler. They were married on April 23, 1930. However, Ralph Cutler died in November 1931, leaving his wife with one small child and pregnant with another. After her husband’s death, Virginia Cutler returned to teaching.

Education and teaching career

In 1935, Virginia Cutler and her two young sons moved to California. Cutler had enrolled at Stanford University on scholarship. Despite obstacles – including both of her children catching pneumonia and spending several weeks in the hospital with a broken back due to a car accident – Cutler completed her master's degree at Stanford in 1937. She and her family remained in California for the next 8 years, where she worked for the University of California as a home demonstration agent. In 1944, again with the hope that more education would provide her children with more opportunities, Cutler moved to Ithaca, New York. For the next two years had a fellowship and was part of the doctoral program at Cornell University.

In August 1946, the Fall after receiving her doctorate at Cornell, Cutler was named the home economics director at the University of Utah. She worked in that position for the next 8 years, during which time she developed a unique "home values test" to help new families measure exactly what they wished to improve within their home. Cutler’s other accomplishments while at the University of Utah include raising funds for the National Home Economics Association’s new D.C. headquarters, speaking as a guest lecturer, and organizing an annual 'Career Days' event for high-school age women. One of Cutler’s main goals as dean of the home economics department at the University of Utah was to assist and encourage young women in receiving a higher education. She stated: “Every young woman needs two careers: One in the home, and one where she can earn a satisfactory living outside the home.” Cutler herself continued to do both: raising her two sons while maintaining a growing professional career.

International and civil work

In 1954, Cutler was invited to be a technical advisor in home economics education for the U.S. International Cooperation Administration. She was sent to Thailand on her first assignment, where she helped establish a national home economics program. After two years in Thailand, Cutler was reassigned to Jakarta, Indonesia. She was in Indonesia for five years teaching home management, setting up new schools, and working (as the only American representative) with the home economics division of the Indonesian Ministry of Education. While still in Indonesia, Cutler was named the new dean of the Brigham Young University College of Family Living, a position she would hold until 1972. At the request of Cornell University, Cutler took a three-year leave of absence from BYU in 1966 to establish a degree course in home science at Ghana University.

Death and legacy

Cutler died of Alzheimer's disease on May 20, 1993. An annual lecture held at Brigham Young University is named for her.