Glen McLaughlin graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1956. As an OU student, he received many awards for academic distinction, including the Gold Letzeiser for Outstanding Senior Man and the Pe-et Honor Society, composed of the top 10 seniors. Following OU graduation, McLaughlin served six years’ active duty as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He went on to earn an MBA from Harvard University and directed the financial operations of several major corporations. For 11 years, McLaughlin was senior vice president and CFO of Four-Phase Systems, a company that in 1971 shipped the world’s first solid-state computer for distributed data processing. He raised $750 million to help finance the company’s growth. And in 1995, McLaughlin co-founded the “Band of Angels,” a Silicon Valley venture capital group still considered one of the best in the country. In 1989, when OU began a $100 million Centennial fundraising campaign, McLaughlin was onboard, and with the guidance of Accounting Professor Frances Ayres, established the Glen McLaughlin Prize in accounting ethics. In addition, he endowed the Glen McLaughlin Chair in Business Ethics within the Steed School of Accounting at Price College.
A venture capital “angel” investor and philanthropist, he has made substantial contributions to nonprofit organizations and has founded more than 15 companies to see them prosper and merge with some of Silicon Valley’s high-tech giants. McLaughlin has served on the boards of over 30 corporations, provided hundreds of millions of dollars in start-up capital for emerging companies and contributed millions more to worthy causes.
An Eagle Scout in his youth, he has continued to serve and support the Boy Scouts of America. He is on the BSA National Executive Board and has contributed generously to the organization. From 1993 to 2000, McLaughlin and his wife, Ellen, led the Scouts’ Western Region Endowment Campaign, which raised more than $1 billion for local Scouts councils. In his honor, the Boy Scouts of America created the McLaughlin Award, given for outstanding leadership in endowment development.
