Psychology Graduate’s Northwestern Direction Led to Unexpected Career

As a doctoral student focusing on personality and abnormal psychology in The Graduate School at Northwestern University in the 1970s, Gary Chalus '73 MA, '76 PhD began to question his intended career path of psychology teaching and research. He borrowed a market research textbook from a friend in the Kellogg School of Management and became fascinated by the subject matter—developing strategies to sell products and services to consumers. This chance connection led him to investigate a career in market research.

While he lacked marketing experience, Chalus found that prospective employers were nonetheless impressed by his psychology degrees from Northwestern. Chalus was hired to work in the market research department at McCann Erickson, an advertising industry leader, where he quickly learned that the research methodologies, data analysis and interpretation, and human emotions and motivations he had studied in psychology were directly transferable to advertising research. Following more than 25 years working in market research at large New York City-based ad agencies, Chalus formally retired in 1999.

"Sometimes you're lucky," Chalus said. "I truly appreciate what I learned during my four years in the psychology department—the knowledge and skills that clearly provided me with a strong foundation for my career."

Chalus chose to honor his Northwestern experience by making annual gifts to undergraduate scholarships and the Northwestern Annual Fund, which he has supported since 1979. In his retirement, he looked for ways to make an even greater impact.

When Chalus received a Northwestern brochure about planned gifts, he was drawn to the simplicity of a gift type that uses accumulated assets to make a deferred gift to Northwestern. The arrangement, called a transfer-on-death (TOD) plan, involves the ultimate transfer of assets from the original owner to the surviving beneficiary-in Chalus's case, Northwestern. TOD arrangements are available with a wide variety of financial institutions, including brokerage firms and mutual fund companies. In addition to being easy to set up, TOD plans are flexible in that they can involve assets that are held either inside or outside of a formal retirement plan.

After discussing this arrangement with the Northwestern Gift Planning team, Chalus completed a form that specifically identifies Northwestern University as the legal beneficiary of his account. He also worked with Gift Planning staff to memorialize his wishes regarding the specific use of his gift.

Inspired in part by Northwestern's increased commitment to financial aid, Chalus chose to designate his planned gift for scholarships, which he views as the most direct way to support the Northwestern student experience. In 2016, the University eliminated loans for all incoming undergraduate students who qualify for Northwestern grant assistance. "The new scholarship program is fantastic, and I know that support like mine is needed so it can keep going," Chalus explained.

For more information about transfer-on-death arrangements, please contact Northwestern Gift Planning at giftplanning@northwestern.edu or 800-826-6709.