When baseball great and hometown hero Fred Hutchinson found a lump in his neck in 1963, he turned to his brother, Seattle surgeon Dr. Bill Hutchinson. Bill made the unhappy diagnosis: cancer. Fred died of the disease the following year, cutting short his Major League Baseball career at age 45.

By then, Bill had already established the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation to study heart surgery, cancer and endocrine diseases. Upon Fred’s death, he channeled his brotherly devotion into creating a living memorial — a center dedicated to studying cancer. In 1965, Dr. William Hutchinson, Fred’s brother, established the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as a division of the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, in the Hutchinsons’ home town of Seattle.

With critical help from U.S. Senator Warren Magnuson, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Seattle community, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center opened its doors in 1975.

Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization and the only NCI-designated cancer center in Washington. We have earned a global reputation for our track record of discoveries in cancer, infectious disease and basic research, including important advances in bone marrow transplantation, immunotherapy, HIV/AIDS prevention and COVID-19 vaccines. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services. Fred Hutch also serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program.