Dr. Malcolm Cutchin Named Among Top 0.5% of Scholars Worldwide
As one of the world’s top-ranked scholars, Dr. Malcolm Cutchin has spent a career exploring the complex connections between place, equity, and well-being — leaving a legacy that continues to shape PNWU’s programs and the communities they serve.
“I’ve always loved the pursuit of ideas,” says Dr. Malcolm Cutchin, Professor and Director of Research at Pacific Northwest University’s School of Occupational Therapy. “But I’ve been just as driven by the values behind them — the hope that inquiry can help make the world a better place.”
“I’ve been just as driven by…the hope that inquiry can help make the world a better place.”
That guiding principle has carried Dr. Cutchin through a distinguished scholarly journey — one that has now earned him international recognition. Recently, he was named among the Top Scholars in the world by Scholar GPS, placing him in the top 0.5% of scholars globally. The recognition honors his vast interdisciplinary contributions across geography, gerontology, health disparities, and occupational science.
A former banker turned academic, Dr. Cutchin’s career didn’t begin in a lab or lecture hall — it began behind a desk in the private sector, performing geographic analysis without formal training. That tension sparked something: a hunger to better understand not just the data, but the people and places it represented.
“I became certain I didn’t want to stay in banking,” he recalls, “so I jumped into academia and never looked back.”
At the University of Kentucky, he earned his PhD in geography, and found himself in an environment that encouraged bold, boundary-crossing work. Surrounded by peers and mentors like esteemed geographer Dr. Graham Rowles, he developed a scholarly approach grounded in rigorous inquiry and human impact.
“At the heart of it is one fundamental question: how do our relationships with place influence our well-being?”
“I’ve long been interested in the ways neighborhood stressors and resident responses are exhibited in health outcomes,” Dr. Cutchin explains. “My work has often been interdisciplinary — bridging geography, health equity, gerontology, and occupational science. At the heart of it is one fundamental question: how do our relationships with place influence our well-being?”
That question would define a career spanning institutions, disciplines, and decades, and leave a lasting imprint on the communities Dr. Cutchin has sought to serve.
His expertise in rural health care, aging in place, and philosophical pragmatism has shaped national conversations about the social and spatial dynamics of health. And at PNWU, it has helped lay the foundation for a new generation of healthcare leaders.
Since joining the School of Occupational Therapy, Dr. Cutchin has not only taught research methods but helped to shape the program’s very philosophy.
“Some of the foundational publications I wrote while at UNC were integrated into the curriculum here by Dr. Fritz,” he shares. “It’s been rewarding to see that work come to life in a program that’s training future clinicians to see inquiry as part of their everyday practice.”
But Dr. Cutchin’s impact isn’t confined to the classroom. His commitment to community health — and especially to underserved and rural populations — is deeply woven into his academic legacy. From exploring how rural primary care physicians integrate into their communities, to revealing how social inequality shapes health disparities, Dr. Cutchin’s work has continually challenged institutions to think more deeply about the structural forces that impact care.
“More clinicians will help, but without systemic socioeconomic change, the quality of life for many people simply won’t improve.”
“Health equity is all about equity in general,” he says. “We live in a very unequal society that’s becoming more inequitable — and less healthy — every year. More clinicians will help, but without systemic socioeconomic change, the quality of life for many people simply won’t improve.”
“That’s why what we do, and what our students do, still matters so much,” he adds.
Despite global recognition, Dr. Cutchin remains humble. “It was a surprise,” he says. “I’ve worked hard and tried to be productive, but to see this acknowledgment through an empirical analysis — it was a nice way to close this chapter of my career.”
“Working with excellent colleagues and students — that’s been the greatest joy of all. It keeps me learning every day.”
With retirement around the corner, Dr. Cutchin is far from finished. He’s continuing to publish, including a new set of gerontology papers co-authored with Dr. Rowles, and remains committed to mentoring the next generation of scholars and clinicians. “Working with excellent colleagues and students — that’s been the greatest joy of all. It keeps me learning every day.”
And for the students and faculty of PNWU, learning from Dr. Cutchin has meant more than just mastering methods or theory. It has meant being guided by someone who not only studies the power of place, but who makes the places he touches better.
