VAUGHN O. VENNERBERG II Vaughn O. Vennerberg II, a native of Midwest City, Oklahoma, graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1976. “OSU provided me a broad perspective of people and how they approached challenges and compromises. Those observations helped me apply many viewpoints to my own life,” Vennerberg says. Vennerberg’s career began in 1979 as a landman for Texaco, followed by a stint at Cotton Petroleum Corporation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cross Timbers Oil Company hired Vennerberg as a land manager in 1987. He spent 23 years with the company, finally serving as the president. In 2011, Vennerberg co-founded MorningStar Oil & Gas in Fort Worth, Texas, where he is a partner and president. He is currently serving a two-year appointment on the National Petroleum Council from the United States Secretary of Energy. He served as director for numerous oil, gas and energy boards and in other leadership positions in the oil and gas industry. He was a founding member of America’s Natural Gas Alliance and served on its executive committee until 2011. Vennerberg and XTO Energy established three endowed faculty positions at OSU in art, bioinformatics and molecular genetics, and developmental disabilities psychology. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011. “The issues that each of us face tomorrow will be solved by the students that we’re educating today,” Vennerberg says. “These students depend on us to lead them to tomorrow.” Vennerberg lives in Dallas with his three sons – Trey, Luke and Zachary. He is a lifetime member of the OSU Alumni Association.
13