Obituary: Scarborough's Kathy Pilhuj

Kathy Pilhuj, SVP of Data Collection at Scarborough Research, has died aged 61. She spent 23 years at the firm, recently managing its two telephone interviewing centers where she was responsible for a number of innovations.

Among other ideas, Pilhuj was responsible for the company's introduction of empirically proven hiring tests, continuous every-call measurement of interviewer performance and an over-arching quality/response rate concept called 'best use of sample.' She also led the programming and IT teams and oversaw data collection technology for the firm.

Pilhuj was honored by the MRA in June this year with an Award of Excellence reflecting her long and extensive contributions to various boards, committees and task forces: these included chairing committees for CMOR (the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research) as well as the MRA (Market Research Association) itself.

She received her degree from Penn State University in 1970 and remained an avid fan of the university football team, the Nittany Lions, flying to all its home games.

Dan Mallett, EVP Research and Analytics at Scarborough, said: 'Kathy had great energy and passion and was a respected manager, an inspiring mentor and a compassionate friend. She will be missed by all of us who had the great fortune of working with her.'

Hospitalized at the end of July this year, Kathy Pilhuj is survived by her husband Gene, children and grandchildren.

Scarborough, a joint venture between Arbitron and Nielsen, is online at www.scarborough.com .