Originally from Stockton, California, his first contact with science education was as radar teacher in the Navy during the Second World War in 1945.
His dissertation was entitled “An Analysis and Evaluation of Polices and Practices in the Selection, Training and Employment of Science Teachers”.
He was, with Fletcher Watson and Gerald Holton, the director of Harvard Project Physics, which provided teachers a variety of products they could utilize according to their personal styles.
In 1971, Rutherford taught at New York University (NYU), as chair of science and mathematics in the Graduate School of Nursing and Education.
In 1977, Rutherford was appointed assistant director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) by President Jimmy Carter.
In 1981, Rutherford became the executive director of the Education Division at the AAAS, and in 1985, he began work on Project 2061, which coincided with the arrival of Comet Halley to help the schools to foster science literacy among all Americans.