She also worked for the United States Point Four Program in Southeast Asia, established a home science degree at the University of Ghana, and served on the White House Consumer Committee under President Richard Nixon.

She married Ralph Garr Cutler in 1929, gave birth to two sons, and became a widow in 1931, just two years after her marriage.

She taught school in Utah in order to support her family before moving to California to attend Stanford University.

Later in her life, she served as president of the Utah chapter of the American Association of University Women and as a member of the White House Consumer Committee from 1972 to 1975.

The Virginia F. Cutler Lecture Series, held annually at Brigham Young University by the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences, is named after her.

As a high school student, Cutler entered a local apron design competition as a spur-of-the-moment decision and won.

[3]: 7  Newly widowed, Virginia Cutler returned to work just two weeks after her husband's abrupt death.

[6] She secured a teaching job to support her young son; however, when it became obvious that she was pregnant, Cutler lost that position.

[2]: 80  Around this time, she realized that she wanted to pursue higher education and earn more money[3]: 8  so that her sons would have greater opportunities when they came of age.

She received the Henry Newell Scholarship to attend Stanford, and also worked in the Dean of Women's Office to support herself and her family.

[3]: 9–10  Despite obstacles—including both of her children catching pneumonia and her having to spend several weeks in the hospital with a broken back due to a car accident—Cutler completed her master's degree at Stanford in 1937.

[3]: 16 In 1944, again with the hope that further education would provide her children with more opportunities, Cutler moved to Ithaca, New York to enroll in a doctoral program at Cornell University.

During her two years at Cornell, Cutler conducted a study of fifty families from the Ithaca area, and her findings were published by the university.

Cornell also distributed pamphlets with a list of the important attributes of a successful home, developed by Cutler.

[13] Her other accomplishments while at the University of Utah include raising funds for the National Home Economics Association's new D.C. headquarters,[14] speaking as a guest lecturer, and organizing an annual "Career Days" event for high-school age women.

[15] One of Cutler's main goals as head of the university's Home Economics Department was to assist and encourage young women in receiving higher education.

He involved Cutler in multiple projects, including the design and construction of seventeen residence halls for female students.

While serving as dean, Dr. Cutler held regular breakfasts in her office so that she could meet and get to know some of the students in the college.

[17] Before becoming Dean of the College of Family Living, Cutler was invited to attend a conference held at Columbia University in 1954 that introduced a program to establish home economics education abroad.

"[2]: 81  This initiative stemmed from the Marshall Plan, a policy adopted by the US government that encouraged citizens to provide aid to foreign nations.

[19] The motivation behind this program, according to a University of Utah student newspaper, was "to aid in educating the people against Communist infiltration by cultural and social advancement.

She helped the teachers focus on classroom skills and providing instruction that would benefit the people in general, not just the Thai royals.

[3]: 41–42  Dr. Cutler traveled throughout Thailand during her time there, providing training to teachers[19] in her capacity as education advisor.

[19] Additionally, Dr. Cutler sent students out into different parts of the nation to administer surveys that would identify the country's needs to be met.

She reported her progress to the United States Foreign Operations Administration,[3]: 42, 46  and helped establish a National Home Economics Program for Thailand.

[3]: 120–36 At the request of Ernest Wilkinson, Dr. Cutler returned to Brigham Young University in 1969 to head the Family Economics and Home Management Department.

She first became involved with the association at BYU, but when she later was appointed president, she gained the added responsibility of traveling to various local chapters throughout the state.

[1] She was on the Young Women's General Board (the governing committee of a youth organization in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) as well.

[6] In 1971, alongside Gordon B. Hinckley and Lowell L. Bennion, Dr. Cutler received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Utah Alumni Association.