Polk State remembers Dr. Annette Hutcherson, longtime leader whose influence shaped generations of nurses
When students and colleagues looked at Dr. Annette Hutcherson’s accomplishments on paper, they may have been intimidated by the retired lieutenant colonel with more than 50 years of professional experience in medicine. As soon as they experienced her Southern charm and genuine care for the success of others, however, they were instantly bonded to Dr. Hutcherson, who nurtured both her students and employees as the Director of Nursing at Polk State College.
Hutcherson passed away on August 24, 2026. A memorial service will be held at The Estates at Carpenters Chapel in Lakeland at 10 a.m. on September 26.
Her legacy lives on through the thousands of healthcare professionals who came through the Polk State Nursing Program during her tenure. And thousands more lives will continue to be touched: from the patients and families cared for by the nurses she trained, to the students who will continue to be taught by instructors who were taught by Hutcherson, worked with her – or both.
“She looked at all of us – her students and faculty – like extensions of her family. She never forgot my kids’ birthdays. During COVID, we played Words with Friends. Every crazy idea I threw at her, somehow, she made them all happen,” said Laura Glidewell, Director of Human Simulation. “That legacy can never be replicated.”
Hutcherson built a career defined by patient care, military service and nursing education. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Mississippi Medical Center and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Southern Mississippi.
After working in hospitals and teaching at community colleges for more than a decade, she moved to Florida and joined what was then Polk Community College as a full-time nursing instructor in 1989.
“Anybody you talk to in Polk County – anyone who participated in the Nursing Program while she was there – will only talk about how impactful she was to their lives professionally and personally,” said Lorrie Jones, retired Nursing faculty who worked with Hutcherson for nearly 20 years. “That is her legacy.”
In 2006, she became director of the department. Under her leadership, the program became known for its academic rigor and consistently strong first-time licensure pass rates.
“Her legacy will live on through all the lives she touched,” shared Lynda Schaak, a colleague of 26 years.
Helping through hardship
Amy Cornish was a student in 2012 when her life was riddled with hardships. A mother of two whose late husband suffered a massive heart attack, Cornish attributes much of her success to Hutcherson.
“She got me in touch with My Brother’s Keeper to make sure my rent was paid,” Cornish explained. “And then when I was ready to graduate in 2014, I couldn’t afford the expenses related to getting my degree [and nursing license], from finger printing and background checks, to testing. She reached out to the Polk State Foundation and got it all covered for me.”
“Truly, I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for her.”
She recalls meeting Hutcherson for the first time.
“She was the director, but she came into my class as our guest instructor,” she said. “I was terrified – we were all terrified of her. We hear she’s ex-military and she’s the director and she’s coming to teach. It was our first semester, and we were scared to even breathe.”
Students quickly realized, “she’s a real person and she cares about us,” Cornish shared. “She truly cared about students, our community and making this program the best it could possibly be.”
Cornish received her master’s degree in 2018 and applied for a position with the Nursing Department.
“When I didn’t get it, she called me personally and apologized profusely for not hiring me,” she said. “When another position opened the next semester, she called me directly again to tell me that I got it this time.”
She has taught in the program since.
When Hutcherson retired in 2024, Cornish gifted her a quilt she pieced together from old Polk State Nursing T-shirts. Hutcherson’s children, Ben and Christy, returned the quilt to Cornish upon their mother’s passing.
“She was a thoughtful, caring, special lady,” Cornish said. “She truly loved education and she loved this program.”
Tough but sweet
“She wasn’t a pushover and she could be tough, but she would say it in such a sweet voice,” said Joanne Chapel, who worked with Hutcherson since 1990.
She recalled Hutcherson’s many accolades, from being named Director of the Year by the Florida Nursing Student Association – twice – to being inducted as a fellow into the Academy of Associate Degree Nursing.
However, she never talked about herself or her accolades, colleagues said.
“You would never know her background or accomplishments unless you looked at her resume,” Schaak said. “She never really talked about herself. She talked about what was good for the profession and what would help students and nurses.”
She took a no-nonsense approach.
Jones recalls when she was an RN to BSN student “back in the dark ages,” when distance education meant streaming pharmacology lessons from Tampa to Winter Haven with unreliable technology.
“Annette was the proctor for the class, and she had to sit and listen to the difficult transmission,” Jones said. “One day, she just turned the TV off and said, ‘this is ridiculous – I’m going to get my staff and we will teach you ourselves.’ That pretty much sums up Annette.”
When Jones later became her colleague, she continued to witness Hutcherson’s practicality.
“When we established the RN-to-BSN, we were the first to start concurrent classes. We went to present in Boston at a national conference, and they asked how we submitted this to the state for approval,” Jones recalled. “She said, ‘I didn’t. It’s 2+2.’ She shrugged her little shoulders and off she went. Then other schools started doing it.”
And while she didn’t build the Polk State Nursing Program, Chapel explained, she is credited with expanding it – especially in the areas of simulation and emerging technology.
Glidewell, who oversees simulation for the Nursing Program today, recalls Hutcherson’s support when she approached her about a new technology.
“She let me take the first sim box and put it together. She said, ‘I don’t know what it does, but if you think you know what to do with it, go for it,’” Glidewell recalled. “Her jaw dropped when she walked into one of our simulation labs in recent years. Dr. [Michael] Bleich named one of our first simulation manikins after her.”
When the Winter Haven Science Building reopened in July after renovations, which includes a high-fidelity simulation lab, Glidewell gave credit to Hutcherson who “saw something in my imagination… the last two years have brought to life dreams I could not even imagine back then.”
“She let me run with something that nobody understood at the time,” she added. “She was aware and she kept up with what we were doing, always. She even came to speak when our program was going through accreditation last year.”
Glidewell shared that she was intimidated to follow in Hutcherson’s shoes.
“I taught her class and her content, and could see the wizard behind the curtain,” she said. “She was a guiding light and a guiding voice who would tell you to pump the brakes when she thought you were getting ahead of where you needed to be. But she always gave you the support so that you could get there.”
“When I thought I couldn’t take any more or do any more, she was always the one to remind me that I could and I would.”
Jones and Schaak echoed this.
“She never said, ‘that’s a dumb idea’ or ‘that’s not going to work.’ She would say, ‘what’s your plan?’ or have you thought of ‘A, B and C?’” Jones explained.
“Wise and smart are two different things. She was both.”
“She was tough, but we always knew she was on our side,” Schaak added.
Empowering others
Colleagues described Hutcherson as humble – an expert who never wanted accolades but wanted to instill knowledge in others so that they could help more people.
“She was one of the first female lieutenant colonels in the United States Army, but you would have never known it because she didn’t talk about herself,” Schaak said.
When Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine opened, she was one of the first nurses to sign up.
“She would go in on her Saturdays and help check people in and take their blood pressure,” Schaak explained. “She was unpretentious and just there, like everyone else.”
Hutcherson was also a member of Good Shepherd Hospice Women of Giving, where she spent her final days in care.
“She always had a heart for the community, not just nursing education within the four walls of a building,” Schaak said. “She wanted to help nurses and help everyone in every situation.”
Hutcherson inspired others in many different ways.
She was well-known for her travels, including a solo trip to Egypt that left her with a broken arm and experiencing healthcare in a foreign country. She brought lessons back to share with students and colleagues.
In 2013, she recorded an episode of POLKcast – Polk State’s official podcast – about her world travels and shared words of encouragement to, “go somewhere that you wouldn’t think about going.”
And she gifted each of her grandchildren a trip upon their high school graduations.
“She enjoyed traveling, and more than anything, she enjoyed bringing her experiences back to the students and faculty,” Chapel said.
Hutcherson exhibited this in all areas of her life.
“She was small in stature, but gigantic in heart. She was Southern and gracious, but also fierce and loyal,” Glidewell said. “She embodied everything that nursing was supposed to be. She advocated for her patients when she took care of them, and for the profession of nursing, she made sure that everybody who needed to be there got there.”
“She was a mentor, she was encouraging and she was a leader for so many students and nurses,” Chapel said.
“She was brilliant, she was humble and she was bigger than life itself,” Schaak exclaimed.
“She laid the foundation for all of us,” Jones added. “That continues on.”
The Polk State College Foundation has established the Annette Hutcherson Scholarship Fund in her honor. The scholarship supports students pursuing careers in nursing and health sciences.
“Dr. Hutcherson’s impact is clear from the testimonies of her students and colleagues, the success of Polk State Nursing and, most importantly, the thousands of patients and families she served directly and indirectly through her dedication to education and the nursing profession,” Polk State President Anastasios Kamoutsas said. “Her legacy will live on at our College and throughout our Polk County community.”