It’s rare for someone to stay in the same job for forty years, but Rob Vaughan is a rare person. He’s been with the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities since graduate school – building it into the biggest organization of its kind. Today, the VFH celebrates literature and language, history and art, philosophy, culture and cuisine with grants, fellowships, conferences, publications and radio programs. Sandy Hausman reports on how Vaughan made it happen.
Rob Vaughan is a talented guy. He sings and reads voraciously. Loves people, is curious and willing to try new things. Kevin McFadden has worked with him for more than a decade and recalls the day Rob planted an orange seed from his lunch.
“He just wanted to see what would happen, and it grew into a seedling and then a sapling, and then eventually a tree, and this tree got so big it was taking over his office," he recalls. " It’s always been a metaphor for me of how Rob grows things. It might seem something someone would just toss away, but he sees potential in it, and it’s flourished.”
As has the organization he started in 1974 when the president of the University of Virginia – Edgar Shannon -- called Vaughan, who was about to get a PhD in English. Shannon wanted to discuss the idea of a foundation that would focus on the humanities in Virginia.
“And we got in the car and took off around the state – ten different locations," Vaughan says. "Lots of people came. You might think ten people would show up, but no – 100, 150! We got a lot of different perspectives and a lot of enthusiasm.”
They formed a board of directors, applied for and won a federal grant of $200,000. Today, the foundation has a budget of about $6 million a year and employs about 40 people – among them Sarah McConnell, host of the VFH radio talk show With Good Reason.
“He always says yes to a great idea," she explains. "He said yes to With Good Reason, yes to Backstory, yes to a program devoted to native Virginians, yes to a program for African-American history. ”
Vaughan, of course, credits those he’s hired, like Andrew Wyndham.
“He hired people in whom he had confidence, and people who had a passion for doing things and who wanted to be entrepreneurial.”
And he insisted they tell the story of all Virginians. Dave Bearinger is head of grants and community programs at the VFH.
“There are people who have been arriving in Virginia from all over the world, from African and Asia and Latin America, and they’re Virginians too.”
He credits Vaughan with setting the tone for the foundation – insisting on respect for all people – and recalls an event organized at the Museum of the Confederacy. This was 20 years ago, before the confederate flag was making news. Bearinger says Vaughan wanted to explore all aspects of this symbol.
“Here we were in this room where there were representatives from the Richmond area NAACP and the black churches, the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, talking about what the flag meant to them. It could have blown up, but it didn’t, because it was respectful.”
Over the years, Vaughan has raised millions of dollars and built partnerships with companies like Google, which enabled the VFH to create a digital encyclopedia of Virginia.
“They trained us in how to do Google Street views. They provided the equipment for us. They even put a little money into it. They had already done Monticello and Mt. Vernon, so we did Montpelier, John Marshall House, the state capital. the executive mansion, both of which are hugely historic. We’re now doing slave cabins.”
And he’s the guy behind an annual Festival of the Book, which this year brought more than 400 authors to Charlottesville to speak with more than 20,000 readers. So what ever will Vaughan do in retirement?
“I am one of the unusual males who just can’t stand golf, so there’s no prospect of retiring to the golf course.”
He hopes to travel and write and to spend more time with a grandson who shares his passion for history.
“He called me up one day when he was in kindergarten. He was 5, and he said, ‘Will you take me to Mt. Vernon for my birthday?’ and I said that’s an offer one cannot refuse.”
Vaughan will leave the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at the end of June, 2017. The VFH board will do a national search – recognizing that it may find a worthy successor, but will never replace Rob Vaughan.