Family First
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Much of who 1976 alumnus Vaughn O. Vennerberg II is goes back to his childhood.
He was born and raised in Midwest City, Okla., by parents who were products of the
military. Mom was in the Women’s Army Corps; Dad in the Army Air Corps. They settled
in Midwest City, where his dad worked for Tinker Air Force Base as a civilian.
The family remained in the same house, allowing him and his sister to attend the
same public schools all 12 years.
Today, the 58-year-old has a stellar reputation in the energy world. But oil and
gas wasn’t on his radar at Midwest City High School, where Vennerberg’s dream was
to study developmental psychology. He took intro psychology classes, served as co-editor
of the newspaper and participated in intramural sports.
In 1971, he attended the American Legion’s Boys State at Oklahoma State University.
“It was my first foray to Stillwater — one entire week in Stillwater,” he says. “I
was duly impressed with the campus and the facilities. That stuck with me when I later
was making a decision on where to go for college.”
Most of his high school friends were headed to the University of Oklahoma. He wanted
to try something different than his older sister, Pam, who had chosen OU. (Pam Olson
went on to become the first woman to anchor a primetime newscast in Oklahoma.)
“The things I was really interested in were at OSU,” he says. “The psychology department
here has always had a great reputation.”
Vennerberg excelled at OSU. He served as president of the Interfraternity Council,
Student Union Activities Board and Blue Key Honor Society. He was a senator for the
College of Arts and Sciences and served on the college’s student council. He received
the Bob Cox Award for Outstanding Senior of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and was a member
of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society.
For eight months, Vennerberg traveled with the Kamms.
“We visited every city in Oklahoma, went to every county fair and every Rotary lunch,”
Vennerberg recalls.
The pay was low, yet the experience incredible, he says. After the campaign, he intended
to return to grad school to finish his master’s in psychology. There was one problem:
no money.
Some folks Vennerberg had met on the campaign trail urged him to apply for a job
atTexaco, which was hiring people with a liberal arts background. He was offered a
position as a landman in Tulsa, Okla. — an offer too good to pass up, he says.
“And that is how I entered the oil and gas business.”
In 1987, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to work for startup XTO Energy Inc., where
he oversaw contract negotiations, regulatory relations, acquisition and divestment
strategy, land, gas marketing, property management and human resources.
In 2010, Vennerberg helped negotiate the sale of XTO Energy to ExxonMobil Corp. —
called one of the largest energy mergers in history by The New York Times. The $31
billion stock sale gave Exxon the equivalent of about 45 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas throughout the United States.
Vennerberg is discovering life after the sale.
In the spring of 2012 Vennerberg received an honorary doctorate from OSU, where he
was one of the commencement speakers.
Earlier this year, he and three partners formed MorningStar Partners, a company in
Fort Worth that focuses on oil production in West Texas and New Mexico.
Meanwhile, Vennerberg is dedicating time to his three sons, whose ages range from
6 to 8. Trey, the oldest, has bought a new aspect to his life. The boy was born with
a rare chromosomal disorder that remains unidentified.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1976 as one of the College of Arts
and Sciences’ Top 10 Seniors. A month later, he started grad school at OSU.
During that first graduate year, Robert Kamm, the former OSU president and Arts and
Sciences dean, called Vennerberg. Kamm, who had entered the Oklahoma senatorial race,
wanted Vennerberg to hit the campaign trial with him and his wife.
XTO had an emphasis on giving back. In 2008, Vennerberg — by then president and director
of XTO — partnered with the company to establish three endowed faculty positions at
OSU, which were the first of their kind in the microbiology and molecular genetics,
art and psychology departments.
“My philanthropy now is three little boys and keeping them active,” the Dallas resident
says. Vennerberg hopes to instill in his three sons the same values his parents taught
him and his sister.
“Our parents had a lot of humility and drive, and were hard workers and solid citizens.
My sister’s and my successes are a true compliment to them.”
“I worked all my life, extensively, 12-hour days, six and seven days a week,” Vennerberg
says. “During that period of my life, I watched many of my friends with children.
I watched their kids grow up, and it was a wonderful thing.
“I knew if I was going to have children, I needed to do something soon, or it wasn’t
going to happen.” So at the age of 50, Vennerberg decided to start a family, using
the help of surrogates. Today, the 58-year-old has three biological sons: trey, 8;
Luke, 7; and Zach, 6. The boys are biological brothers.
Vennerberg didn’t start out planning to have three sons. But a curve ball came with
the first one, and it was devastating.
He still remembers the obstetrician’s first words to him after trey was born prematurely:
“I know this is not the news you wanted to hear.”
Trey, born with a rare chromosomal disorder, spent his first eight weeks in a neonatal
intensive care unit. He was not expected to survive. Family and friends helped, staying
by Trey’s side night and day while Vennerberg continued to work full-time for XTO
Energy.
“Trey was in severe condition, and it was hit or miss,” he says. “I wouldn’t wish
this upon any parent, but I learned from the experience.”
What he learned, in part, is that genetics is one of the greatest frontiers in science,
and money is desperately needed for research. The oilman sought out the best geneticists
in the country. They mapped out Trey’s chromosomal disorder, finding no chromosomal
abnormalities in the family tree.
Trey’s genetic disorder just happened, and nobody can say why. The syndrome is so
rare that it doesn’t carry a name, only a number. The long leg of his chromosome no.
1, band 31.1 through 32.1, is missing. So far, Vennerberg has found only one, perhaps
two, other children in the world born with the same genetic deletion.
Trey is now 8 but has been walking for only two years. Younger brothers luke and
Zach keep close watch on their older brother, who cannot talk. Trey has frequent seizures
and regular trips to the emergency room.
In 2008, Vennerberg and XTO gave $1 million (matched by Boone Pickens and the state
of Oklahoma to make it a total $4 million gift) to OSU to create three endowed faculty
positions in microbiology and molecular genetics, psychology and art.
The Vaughn “Trey” O. Vennerberg III Chair in Bioinformatics and Molecular Genetics,
held by Robert L. Burnap, is named for Vennerberg’s oldest son. Vennerberg also chose
subjects dear to him for the other two chairs: the Vennerberg Professorship in Developmental
Disabilities in Psychology, held by Larry L. Mullins, reflects the oilman’s bachelor’s
degree in psychology. And he is an art collector, hence the Vennerberg Professorship
of Art, held by Rebecca Parker Brienen, an art historian who specializes in 17th-Century
Dutch art and museum collections and history. All three posts are the first endowed
chairs in their departments.
Still, it’s the chair in genetics that is closest to Vennerberg’s heart.
“I want to give other families hope,” he says. “I want this gift to improve the quality
of life for individuals with genetic disorders, as well as give hope to their families.”
Today, Trey is doing well. In august, Trey’s pediatrician commended the family for
the extraordinary progress the boy has made through intensive therapy and stimulation.
“He is never down, never discouraged and never gives up,” his father says. “And while
he cannot talk, he can express his feelings, and he is always happy.” Trey loves guitar
music, other people’s eyeglasses, riding in a car, swimming and the movie Mary Poppins,
Vennerberg says. He is enrolled in a special-needs class at an elementary school outside
Dallas.
Vennerberg is blunt about the enormous resources it takes to raise his special-needs
son. Trey needs 18 hours of supervision a day, which includes three full-time nannies
and others, he says.
The nannies, who happen to be three sisters, have a great bond with his sons, Vennerberg
says. The family’s support system includes his sister and her husband, two nieces
and friends, as well as the boys’ godparents, who are also family members.
Meanwhile, Vennerberg says, he is having fun watching his sons grow and develop —
and just like any other parent, it’s not always easy.
He continues to work at his newest venture, MorningStar Partners, but these days,
it’s on a more flexible schedule. His days now include dropping kids off at school,
riding bikes and organizing birthday parties and swimming lessons. He’s learned about
Dora the Explorer and her adventures, thanks to Luke and Zach’s summer camps, and
the family enjoys attending Texas Rangers baseball games.
“Luke and Zach look out for their older brother every day,” Vennerberg says. “They
do not understand the details of his issues, but they do know Trey has special needs,
and they know a family is a place where people take care of each other.
“Every once in a while, I get to close my door and have a little quiet time to myself,”
he says. But he doesn’t care if he has much privacy these days. “You just plow in
and make it work. It’s hard to imagine what life was like without my sons. They are
my greatest blessing.”
Story By Lorene A. Roberson