Linda K. Vaughan of Wellesley, Massachusetts, passed away at the age of 71 on Oct 17, 2009 after a long battle with cancer. She was the loving daughter of the late Robert E. and Jane G. (Gleason) Vaughan and is survived by several cousins
Dr. Vaughan was Professor Emerita of the Department of Physical Education and Athletics at Wellesley College, and was Chair/Athletic Director of the Department from 1973 to 1990. She continued teaching until her retirement in 2000.
Dr. Vaughan graduated from Hathaway Brown School for Girls, in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where she was referred to as “blue-eyed perpetual motion.” She received the Janet McGean Scholarship as the student who had contributed the most to the School. Linda then went on to obtain B.S. and M.A. degrees from Russell Sage College, where she received the Aldrich Award for Proficiency in Sports.
After receiving her Master’s Degree in 1962, she came to Wellesley College as an instructor of Physical Education. She received her Ph.D. in Physical Education from Ohio State University. Dr. Vaughan then served as Professor and Director of the Master’s Thesis Program in Physical Education at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts for several years.
Dr. Vaughan returned to Wellesley College in 1973, as Chair/Athletic Director of the Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics. As Chair, she remolded the Wellesley intercollegiate athletics from its club status infancy into a strong and viable program, hiring the first assistant athletic directors, athletic trainers, specialized coaches, and assistant coaches. Also during her tenure, the College built the new Sports Center. Linda was the director of this project, which culminated in the athletic complex being opened in 1985. Additionally, Linda was a founding Co-Chair of the Friends of Wellesley College Athletics, a support group that has helped Wellesley Intercollegiate Athletics grow substantially over the past two decades.
Noted for research in the field of sports psychology, Dr. Vaughan authored many papers in the field. Of particular importance was her sabbatical research in women’s exercise physiology done at the Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts. At the time women were just being admitted into the Army as regular soldiers. The studies were important in demonstrating that not only were women able to undergo the same demanding physical training as men but that they didn’t quit when pushed. She also conducted a major study on the history of crew at Wellesley College.
Dr. Vaughan instilled a sense of professionalism and the value of good teaching in all her junior colleagues, and considered teaching her students to be the most important part of her professional career.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Linda was a highly talented amateur nature photographer, who traveled around the world, including Africa, Alaska and the Antarctica, to obtain photographs of wild animals in their natural habitats. Her one-woman show of these photos at the Blue Mountain Gallery in the Adirondacks was enthusiastically received by the public.
Although she loved her international travels, Linda’s favorite location for relaxing was the Adirondacks, in New York, where her love of the wild areas developed at a young age when she was a canoeing guide at a local girl’s camp. Every year since then she has returned to the Adirondacks where she became an avid supporter of the local cultural and historical organizations and loved canoeing with her flat-coated retriever and multiple cameras.
Linda loved animals, having had a succession of four flat-coated retrievers during her life, and always a cat or two. Most importantly, due to her warm and generous personality, Linda was blessed with many devoted friends, in whose memories she will remain forever.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in Linda’s memory may be made either to Hathaway Brown School (www.hb.edu or 19600 North Park Blvd, Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122) for the “Linda K. Vaughan 1956 Chair for the Athletic Director” Fund or to Friends of Wellesley College Athletics, (c/o Wellesley College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481) for the “Linda K. Vaughan Endowment Fund For The Friends of Wellesley College Athletics.”
A memorial service will be held at the Wellesley Congregational Church (Village Church), 2 Central St., Wellesley Square, Wellesley, Massachusetts, on Sat. Oct. 31 at 1pm. Relatives and friends kindly invited. A reception will follow at the Wellesley College Club, 727 Washington St. (RT 16) Wellesley from 2-4PM.