The Frances K. Hutchinson Medal is awarded to figures of national importance for distinguished service to conservation.

The Francis K. Hutchinson Medal was endowed by the Lake Geneva Garden Club, Zone XI, in memory of its founder, Francis Kinsley Hutchinson (Mrs. Charles Lawrence Hutchinson: 1857–1936) who was an avid horticulturist, naturalist, and conservationist. At her home, Wychwood, Frances created a 73-acre woodland sanctuary, which she donated to the University of Chicago and which served as a resource for scientific study for faculty and students until the trust ended and the property was subsequently subdivided. She was the author of the Wychwood country home trilogy on the natural history of the Lake Geneva region. She was president of the Wildflower Preservation Society, Illinois Chapter. The medal was designed by Spaulding-Gorham, Inc. in 1940.