Vaughn O. Vennerberg II is a native of Midwest City, Oklahoma and a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1976. Vaughn excelled during his time at OSU, serving as president of the Interfraternity Council, Student Union Activities Board and Blue Key Honor Society. Vaughn received the OSU Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011 and an honorary OSU doctorate in 2012. Vaughn began his career as a landman for Texaco. He later went to work as a land manager at Cross Timbers Oil Company, spending 23 years with the company, eventually serving as president. In 2011, Vaughn co-founded MorningStar Oil & Gas in Fort Worth, Texas, where he is a partner and president. In 2008, Vaughn and XTO Energy established three endowed faculty positions at OSU in art, bioinformatics and molecular genetics, and developmental disabilities psychology. Vaughn is dedicated to the advancement of research on developmental disabilities and has made incredible contributions to such research in the PHP lab. He currently lives in Dallas with his three sons – Trey, Luke and Zachary.