New faculty member, executive director of research center to join Medill

Lan Nguyen Chaplin will serve in IMC department; Larry DeGaris will run Spiegel Research Center

EVANSTON, ILL. -- Medill has added a new faculty member to its integrated marketing communications department and a new staff member to lead the Spiegel Research Center.

Lan Nguyen Chaplin will be a professor in IMC. Her research focuses on branding, materialism and children’s consumer behavior, and she has published and spoken extensively on these areas. Chaplin joins Medill from the University of Illinois Chicago where she is an associate professor of marketing. She has previously taught at Villanova University, University of Arizona, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Minnesota.

Chaplin attended the University of Pennsylvania and earned her doctorate at the University of Minnesota. She will join Medill in the fall.

Larry DeGaris will be the executive director of the Medill Spiegel Research Center. He was the co-director of the Center for Sports Sponsorship at the University of Indianapolis. DeGaris also has led his own consultancy, providing sponsorship and sports marketing research to corporations and sports leagues.

DeGaris attended Wesleyan University and got his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. He will start his role with Spiegel on May 9.

“Both Lan and Larry will help Medill remain at the forefront of teaching and research in areas that are critical to the future of the media and marketing industries,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “As we begin our second century, Medill continues its commitment to equipping the next generation of leaders with the skills and information they need to shape the future.”