2025 Graduation Stories: Lucas Vaughan

This story was originally published on Duke Today.

Lucas Vaughan MIDP'25 grew up in the rural United States and spent much of his free time rodeo riding.  

“Duke opened its doors to me – a cowboy turned soldier turned grad student soon to be cyber guy – and surrounded me with brilliant minds from across the globe,” says Vaughan, who will graduate from the Sanford School of Public Policy and be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Vaughan will deliver the graduate student speech about his experience at Duke.

“From the moment I stepped foot on this campus, I saw people who could accomplish anything they set their minds to. I was humbled to discover they viewed me as a peer – believing I, too, could do the same,” he says.

Vaughan began doing rodeos at four years old. He spent his childhood moving often but always to rural areas rooted in the Western ranching lifestyle. He qualified twice for the National High School Finals Rodeo and earned a college rodeo scholarship.

During his undergraduate years, first at New Mexico State University and later at Lubbock Christian University, he packed mules and guided pack trips on horseback in Kings Canyon National Park, worked in the meat science lab at Texas Tech, worked cattle at a 16,000-head feedlot in Brawley, Calif., near the Mexican border, and ranched in Nevada. He earned a bachelor’s in animal science.

Image

He spent his last winter as a civilian at Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Alta, Wyo., before entering the Army, where he served 13 years on active duty, most of them in special operations. During his military career, he deployed three times and graduated from Ranger School.

He took advantage of the Army's Green to Gold active-duty option, which required him to participate in the Army ROTC as a cadet. That led him to Duke.

“I was blessed to discover that Duke Army ROTC has an outstanding cadre (the military instructors), and the other cadets are some of the most talented young people I have ever met,” Vaughan said.

His time at Duke led him to the Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) program where he focused on national security, cyber policy and food security. He also will receive a certificate in Middle East studies. He earned Distinguished Military Graduate, an honor awarded to cadets in the Army's ROTC program who demonstrate exceptional achievement in academics, leadership, and physical fitness, ranking in the top 20 percent of all cadets nationwide.

Vaughan’s wife is a Duke postdoc associate in geopolitics and humanitarian crises. They have a five-year-old daughter – a big Duke fan who loves walking around campus and having pizza at Brodhead Center.

This summer, he and his family will relocate as he begins advanced training as a newly commissioned cyber officer.