Biography of
Dr. George B. Vaughan

George B. Vaughan is president emeritus of Piedmont Virginia Community College and professor emeritus of higher education at North Carolina State University.

He served as chief academic officer at two community colleges before becoming a community college president. In August 1971, Dr. George B. Vaughan was named founding president of Mountain Empire Community College and groundbreaking ceremonies were held in October of that same year. The first classes were offered in the fall of 1972. In 1977, Dr. Vaughan was named president of Piedmont Virginia Community College, where he served for 11 years.

Vaughan also authored and edited one of the only history books about the creation of the Virginia Community College System –Pursuing the American Dream – published in 1987.

He left PVCC in 1988 to found a community college leadership doctoral program at George Mason, and by 1992 he was teaching future community college presidents and leaders through the graduate programs at North Carolina State University until his retirement in 2006.

A national study named him one of the 50 most effective community college presidents in the nation. During his tenures as president, he began his scholarly work on community college presidents and trustees, which continued throughout his career.

Dr. Vaughan has written more than 100 articles and a dozen books related primarily to community colleges. His books on the community college presidency won two national awards. He served on the board of directors of AACC for three terms. He has taught a number of graduate courses related to higher education in the U.S. and has served as advisor to many graduate students.

Dr. Vaughan received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Emory and Henry College, a master’s degree in history from Radford University, and a doctorate in higher education from Florida State University.