Jerry Vaughan has been in the Information Technology field for the past 32 years. He grew up in the St. Petersburg / Clearwater area, where he attended and graduated from Dunedin High School. Vaughan received his Associate’s degree from St. Petersburg College (SPC) and then transferred to the University of South Florida in 1980. The majority of his career was spent in the financial industry. With the exception of Antarctica, Vaughan has had the privilege of traveling to all the other continents. He has been the Chief Operating Officer of several software companies over the years. Since retirement, he has made a decision to give back to the colleges and universities he attended.

In an effort to give back to the SPC community, Vaughan wrote a letter to Dr. William Law stating that he would like to get involved with an advisory committee or the Board of Trustees. He sent his resume to Dr. Sharon Setterlind, Dean of the College of Computer & Information Technology department (CCIT), and she invited him to join the CCIT Advisory Committee.  Vaughn hopes that his experience in the corporate world would aid him in helping young people to be good problem solvers and help them think analytically. He hopes to use his expertise to inspire more young people to enter the IT field.

“I think my practical work experience would be very valuable to the committee. In the near future, I want to evaluate the current curriculum, looking at what programs are solid and which ones need work. I want to orchestrate a plan to achieve this goal.”