After high school graduation, Jesse worked hard and saved in order to attend night school. He knew if he continued to invest in his own success, and he approached people with confidence and sincerity, it would pay off.
Eventually he moved to Bloomington, and this is where his entrepreneurial spirit took flight. He started his first business.
Though he faced multiple failures in those earlier days, he achieved even greater successes. By 1939, not only had he earned enough money from his own business to enroll at IU, but he was also able to marry his love, Beulah.
Over the years his business holdings continued to expand and he turned his eye toward philanthropy. His generosity allowed for the creation of the Jesse H. and Beulah Chanley Cox Arboretum and Pavilion in the heart of the Indiana University Bloomington campus. In addition, he and Beulah gave the largest single gift ever received at IU, which established the Jesse H. and Beulah Chanley Cox Scholarship endowment for Indiana's hardest working students.