Sutcliffe attended Bates College and took his Bachelor of Arts, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1938, he attended Hertford College, Oxford, where he took a second Bachelor of Arts, earning first-class honours. He completed his Doctorate.Phil.
The Rhodes Trust allowed him to extend his scholarship for a third year at Oxford to work on his doctorate. In 1940-1941, he held a Carnegie Fellowship to complete his thesis while working independently. degree at Oxford University in 1943 with his thesis on "English book-reviewing, 1749-1800". He taught at Bates College and Harvard University.
He was serving as president of Education for Freedom, Incorporated., in New York City, when he was invited to join the Kenyon English Department in 1946.
He became the James H. Dempsey Professor of English at Kenyon in 1956, and in 1957 he was named Chairman of the English Department. He held both positions until his death in 1964.
