One of seven children, John Redd Hutcheson (1886-1962) was born to Robert Francis and Mary Claiborne (née Barksdale) Hutcheson near Charlotte Courthouse, Virginia, on January 13, 1886. Dr. Jack, as he was affectionately known, married Eleanor Parrott in 1917, and the couple had three children. Hutcheson served briefly during World War I, and he operated Edgemont Farm with his brother T.B. Hutcheson.

John Hutcheson earned a B.S. degree in 1907 and M.S. in 1909 from Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI) as well as honorary doctorates from Clemson College in 1937 and North Carolina State College in 1947. Following graduation from VPI, he taught and served as principal for schools in Virginia and Mississippi as well as lectured at the University of Virginia. In 1914, Hutcheson joined the Virginia Agricultural Extension Service (now the Virginia Cooperative Extension), becoming its director in 1919.

In January 1945, Hutcheson was appointed executive assistant to President Julian Burruss, but soon took on many of the president's duties when Burruss became ill.

Hutcheson was elected Virginia Tech's ninth president in August 1945. In December 1946, he became ill and was granted sick leave, at which time Walter Newman took over the duties of president. Although Hutcheson recovered from his illness, he did not return to his position as president. Instead, the Board of Visitors appointed Hutcheson as VPI's first chancellor in August 1947 and Newman became VPI's tenth president.

The following year, the Board established the VPI Educational Foundation, Inc. (known today as the Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc.) and named Dr. Jack its first president. He left the chancellorship in 1956, while remaining the foundation's president until his death on January 23, 1962.