As Chief Creative Officer, Bruce Vaughn co-leads Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) and will lead a renewed focus on creativity and innovation, taking the unlimited number of franchises and stories Disney has, and developing groundbreaking new experiences to delight our guests.

Vaughn most recently rejoins WDI from Airbnb, where he was Vice President, Experiential Creative Product, focusing on creating meaningful connections between travelers and locals around the world through authentic experiences. Prior to that role, Vaughn was the CEO and CCO of Dreamscape Immersive where he worked with teams to advance virtual reality technologies to create an entirely new form of mainstream location-based entertainment.

He returns to Imagineering, where he was previously Chief Creative Executive. Vaughn joined WDI in 1993 as a senior technical specialist. In order to gain experience in various aspects of the WDI process, Vaughn spent time working as a writer for Theme Park Productions and was associate media producer for the renovation of Spaceship Earth at Epcot. Since then, Vaughn has been involved in many efforts that cross over the various divisions of The Walt Disney Company, including Feature Animation, Television, Theatrical, Music, Internet, Consumer Products and Location-Based Entertainment.

Prior to joining WDI, Vaughn worked on the technical staff of Bran Ferren’s company, Associates & Ferren, in East Hampton, New York for five years where he contributed to the development and execution of special effects for various media projects. Vaughn has received several screen credits for feature films, including Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Imposter (2001). Vaughn has led R&D teams that received THEA (Themed Entertainment Awards) awards for Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold, Stitch’s Photo Phone and Lucky the Dino.

Vaughn graduated cum laude from Colgate University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and a minor in 1art history.