Jack Hood Vaughn

Mr. Vaughn led the Peace Corps through 1969, his résumé also includes an array of other influential positions, among them ambassador to Panama in 1964 and 1965, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs from 1965 to 1966 and ambassador to Colombia from 1969 to 1970. He resigned from the foreign service because he felt the Nixon administration, preoccupied by the Vietnam War and turmoil in the Middle East, was not paying sufficient attention to Latin America. Out of government service, Mr. Vaughn was president of the National Urban Coalition, dean of international studies at Florida International University, director of international programs for the Children’s Television Workshop (producing foreign versions of “Sesame Street”), president of the Planned Parenthood Federation, chairman of Conservation International and chairman of Ecotrust, an organization he founded to protect rain forests. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in romance languages, he enlisted in the Marines and saw action in the Pacific during World War II. He returned to his alma mater after the war and earned a master’s in economics. Mr. Vaughn’s first marriage, to the former Joanne Smith, ended in divorce. Besides his daughter Jane, he is survived by his second wife, the former Margaret Weld; two other daughters, Carol Vaughn and Kathryn Vaughn Tolstoy; a son, Jack Jr.; three sisters, Kathryn Swarthout, Billie Johnson and Janyth Sheldon; and two grandchildren. While studying at the University of Michigan, Mr. Vaughn also coached the university’s boxing team. Later, under the name Johnny Hood, he was a professional featherweight boxer.