FCC veteran Vaughan, architect of spectrum auctions, dies at 64

Gerald P. (Jerry) Vaughan, 64, a retired veteran of the Federal Communications Commission who helped launch the first spectrum auctions, died Dec. 6 at his summer home in Pennsylvania of an apparent heart attack.
The FCC said Vaughan worked at the commission for more than 30 years, holding top posts and receiving government recognition – including a Presidential Rank Award in 1995 – along the way. Vaughan, who headed the FCC’s wireless telecom bureau when he retired in 2004 and before that served as deputy chief of the then common carrier bureau, led the team that developed the spectrum auction program in the mid-1990s. The program increased wireless competition and brought billions of dollars into the U.S. Treasury. The FCC auctions team was presented with a Hammer Award for reinventing government initiatives by then-vice president Al Gore in 1994.
Vaughan was a Vietnam veteran, where he served in 1968 as a rifle platoon leader in the First Infantry Division, U.S. Army. He was a decorated combat veteran who was awarded several combat awards including the Purple Heart. He was a 1966 graduate of the University of Scranton. Vaughan is survived by his wife, Gloria, and daughter, Noel. The funeral was held Dec. 13 St. Joseph’s Church in Scranton, Pa.