Rex Hutchens

Ill. Rex R. Hutchens, 33°, G.C., Past Grand Master of Masons in Arizona is most famous for A Bridge to Light (1988, revised 2004), a summary of the Scottish Rite degrees based on Albert Pike's classic Morals and Dogma.

Other books by Hutchens provide valuable tools for modern readers grappling with Pike's classics: The Bible in Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma: A Glossary to Morals and Dogma (co-authored with D.W. Monson, 1992), and Pillars of Wisdom: The Writings of Albert Pike (1995).

Most recently, he has published a newly annotated edition of Albert Pike's Lecture on Masonic Symbolism and A Second Lecture on Symbolism: The Omkara and Other Ineffable Words (2007), one of Masonry's rarest books.

Born in Glendale, Oregon in 1942 Dr. Hutchens graduated from Mendocino High School, Mendocino, California.  While in the U.S. Army, he began both his advanced education and teaching career.  Upon his discharge, he traveled extensively in Europe, the Near East and the Orient.  He resided in Karachi, Pakistan and Kabul Afghanistan for several years.

Upon his return to the United States, Dr. Hutchens completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh.  He continued his studies at the University of Arizona in Oriental Studies, receiving an M.A. in 1972.  After doing extensive research in Cuba, he completed his doctorate in 1984 with a dissertation on the Cuban Revolution.  During Dr. Hutchens' residence in Arizona, he has operated his own real estate investment, management and consulting firm and taught numerous and varied courses for the University of Arizona and Pima Community College.

Dr. Hutchens began his Masonic career in 1982 in Epes-Randolph Lodge #32.  He joined the Southern Arizona Research Lodge to pursue his interest in Masonic research, primarily focused on the history and ritual of the degrees of Scottish Rite.

Not satisfied with the passive activity of research as his only contribution to Masonry, he accepted appointments to the lines of various York Rite bodies.  In December, 1987, his service to the York Rite was recognized by his election to the Tucson Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine.

Though primarily interested in Scottish Rite research, Dr. Hutchens has been active in degree work.  He has served as an active officer in several of the Scottish Rite bodies.  In 1987 he was invested with the rank and decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honor.  In 1989 he was coroneted with the Thirty-third Degree, and in 1995 he received the Grand Cross of Honor.  He is active in numerous Masonic organizations, and has served as a Grand Officer in the York Rite.

Courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Masonic Conference