Personal Page: Walter Hutchens

Professor Hutchens joined Whitworth's faculty in 2007. An expert on commercial law and business in China, he likes to describe his business-law course – required for all business majors – as a "law-appreciation" course. He enjoys helping students see how law not only burdens and constrains business but also makes modern commerce possible.

Originally from Alabama, Hutchens attended college at Samford University, a Christian liberal- arts institution in Birmingham. Studying history there sparked a lifelong interest in China. In 1989 he was part of a university-exchange trip that put him in China during the violent end to the Tiananmen Square protests. After this indelible experience, he nurtured his China interest for many years, eventually returning to the country a number of times for work and study. He completed an M.A. in East Asian Studies during law school, and, after a time in New York City, was transferred to the Beijing offices of the prestigious law firm Paul, Weiss.

In 2002 he left corporate law practice to become an academic, initially teaching in the business school of the University of Maryland. After three years on their main campus inside the D.C. beltway, he moved back to Beijing to help administer and teach in the university’s China-based EMBA programs.

Prior to law school, Hutchens worked in public relations, including a stint with Apple Computer in Silicon Valley. He says that after living in Alabama, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, New York and Beijing, he is delighted to move to Spokane and teach in Whitworth's student-focused community.