Elise Vaughan is the Director of Benefits for Washington University in St. Louis.  She joined the University in April 2024 and directs the design and operations of the health, retirement, absence management, and tuition programs for more than 20,000 employees of the top-tier higher education institution and academic medical center.  

Elise has a passion for delivering benefit programs to enhance and support the health, wellbeing, and retirement goals for employees. Her experience includes more than 20 years in human resources with a focus on global benefits, compensation, talent management and M&A.

Elise has broad industry experience across tech, medical device, biopharmaceutical, media and consumer goods.  Before joining the University, she was AVP of HR at Cognizant Technology Solutions leading the global mergers & acquisitions (M&A) function for HR where she partnered to grow the business, integrate operations, and engage employees. Prior roles include HR M&A at Oracle Corporation, total rewards at CareFusion Corporation, and benefits at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Viacom/CBS and Coca-Cola Enterprises.