Chuck Sellers Makes Lifetime and Legacy Gifts to Support Endowed Scholarship in Accounting

Chuck Sellers says his father and uncle were “huge Alabama football fans.” He caught the passion too and attended all football games, including bowl games, as a student. “Alabama changed the trajectory of my life,” he says. “Learning to think independently of others set the course of what I was to become.”

With gratitude for his excellent UA education, Chuck supports the University in many ways. He makes annual qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) of the required minimum distribution from his IRA, and the University is the beneficiary of his IRA. He has also established a charitable remainder trust that the University will receive after his and his wife Lana’s lifetimes.

“All of these are going into the Charles E. Sellers Endowed Accounting Scholarship and Support Fund that I started,” he says. “Accounting changed my life. I got so many opportunities to succeed, meet incredible people and help people and businesses achieve their goals.”

The QCD allows him to avoid the income taxes, so UA gets the full value. “Having the University as my IRA beneficiary also gives the full value to UA without being diminished by income taxes,” he says. “The charitable remainder trust allows me to support my wife in her lifetime while also supporting the University.” The QCD also allows him to see the fund in operation during his lifetime. He is going to give the first scholarship this year and meet the student.

As a student, Chuck was active in the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, where he was president and treasurer. He was also active in Beta Alpha Psi and played intramural baseball and football. He retired in 2015 after 42 years as a CPA and now serves as chairman of the board and member of the executive management committee at McPherson Oil.

Chuck encourages others to consider leaving a legacy of support for future students. “I think most people who have been successful in their career and life want to give others the same opportunities they had,” he concludes. “An education is one of the critical foundation blocks needed to create opportunity for someone.”