Dr. Vaughn Vandegrift was appointed the seventh chancellor of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on July 1, 2004. As Chancellor, Dr. Vandegrift has been instrumental in guiding the University toward fulfillment of its vision to be recognized nationally, as a premier Metropolitan University, for the excellence of its programs and development of professional and community leaders. He has developed a plan for achievement of the vision by the year 2015 that incorporates the values and long-term strategic goals of the University.
Dr. Vandegrift is a New Jersey native who came to SIUE from Georgia Southern University, where he served as Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Chief Information Officer, and Professor of Chemistry. Prior to that, Dr. Vandegrift served as Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at Montclair State University in New Jersey, Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at Murray State University in Kentucky, and held earlier faculty positions at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.
Dr. Vandegrift currently serves as a member of St. Louis Civic Progress and on the Boards of Directors of Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois; University Park, SIUE; Focus St. Louis; St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association; United Way of Greater St. Louis; the Southern Illinois Collegiate Common Market (SICCM) and the Executive Council of The Alliance of Edwardsville-Glen Carbon. The author of numerous articles and publications in protein/nucleic acid biochemistry, Dr. Vandegrift is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been elected into the honor societies of Omicron Delta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi. He has provided service on boards in support of science education and has been listed in Who's Who in the East, American Men and Women of Science and Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology.
He received his Ph.D. from Ohio University in Biochemistry and his baccalaureate and master’s degrees in Chemistry from Montclair State University.
Dr. Vandegrift and his wife, Sue, are the parents of three adult children. Beth is an attorney, while David and Mark are both employed in private business. In addition, Vaughn and Sue are the proud grandparents of two granddaughters, Vaughn and Camilla.
