Robert Guy McCutchan (1877-1958) was a noted musician, educator, and hymnologist. McCutchan studied at Park College in Parkville, MI, and Simpson College in Indianola, IA. He went on to teach voice at Baker University in Baldwin, KS, founding their conservatory of music in 1910. After further musical study in Europe, in 1911 he became Dean of Music at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN, where he remained for 26 years. McCutchan's career as an educator was rivaled only by his lifelong interest in hymnology. He assembled a vast hymn library over the course of his life, and also authored several publications and pieces of music, including assisting with the compilation of the Methodist Hymnal of 1935. Other notable works include but are not limited to: "Our Hymnody" (New York: The Methodist Book Concern, 1937), and "Hymns in the Lives of Men" (New York: Abingdon Cokesbury Press, 1943). He also published several pieces of music under the pseudonym "John Porter".

Robert Guy McCutchan retired from education and moved to California, where he continued an active musical presence, authoring publications and continuing to build his hymnal collection. Close relations with the Claremont colleges community led to the donation of his vast hymnal collection to the Claremont collections in 1957. After his death in 1958, his second wife, Helen, also donated his papers and a biographical scrapbook chronicling McCutchan's life to the Claremont Colleges.