Northcraft earned a second Bachelor of Arts degree in experimental psychology in 1977 from the University of Oxford, and worked for the Office of the Commissioner of Education in the same year.
As a master's and doctoral student of social psychology at Stanford University, Northcraft spent part of 1979 with the Office of Consumer Studies within the Food and Drug Administration.
[1] After completing his graduate studies in 1981, Northcraft began his career at the University of Arizona as an assistant professor of management and public policy.
In 1996, Northcraft joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty, where he served as Harry J.
In 2008, Northcraft became director of the Office of Research, while also serving as interim associate dean of faculty for the University of Illinois College of Business.