Horace Elton Rogers

Photo from Dickinson College Photo Collections
    Horace Elton Rogers was born on December 5, 1902 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rogers attended Dickinson College in 1920 and graduated four years later in 1924. He was a brother of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, an honorary society. Dr. Ernest A. Vuilleumier  encouraged Rogers to join the faculty after graduating from Dickinson, but Rogers wanted to see what else he could achieve. The Research Laboratory of the Eastman Kodak company in Rochester, New York, offered Rogers a deal to work for them. Dickinson College, realizing that Rogers would go far, offered a better deal and was able to secure Rogers as a faculty member in 19251 . Rogers began as an Instructor of Physics and Chemistry in 1925. He stayed with the college until 1927 when he left to do graduate work.
    He still continued on with his education and obtained his Masters degree from Lafayette college in 1925. Rogers later went on to Princeton University to earn his Ph.D., in 1930.
    When Rogers came back to Dickinson College in 1930 he held the position of Associate Professor of Chemistry until 1941. He then became Professor of Analytical Chemistry in 1941 to 1952. Rogers' work and dedication to the college allowed him to be bestowed with the Alfred Victor duPont Professor of Analytical Chemistry in 1952. He became Chairman of the Physics Department after the death of Dr. Ernest A. Vuilleumier . Rogers stayed with Dickinson College until his retirement in 1971, when he became Alfred Victor duPont Professor Emeritus of Analytical Chemistry.
    He was mainly interested in the viscosity of liquids and wrote many publications on this topic. Rogers published seven articles some by himself and others with different professors. Some of these publications are "The Dieletric Polarization of Liquids: I Halogenate Hydrocarbous, III Fatty Acids."
    In addition to teaching, Rogers was active with the Allison Methodist Church. He served as the President of the Broad of Trustees, the Superintendent of the Church School and as a choir member. Rogers was also the faculty secretary of Phi Beta Kappa and a staunch supporter of the Dickinson athletic program. He served on the Dickinson Alumni Council from 1979-1987.
    Rogers won many awards for his teaching and dedication to Dickinson College. In 1963 he received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teachings. Rogers was also the first recipient of the Dickinson College Distinguished Alumni Award in June 1984. The 1942 and 1969 editions of the Microcosm were both dedicated to him.
    Rogers married Joy Marie Rommel on March 27, 1926 and had two sons who both went to Dickinson College. Rogers later died on January 15, 1987.

    Footnotes

    1. Paper Horace E. Rogers wrote, "Fifty years (and more) as Student and Professor at Dickinson College" Dropfile.

Bibliography

    Dickinson College, Microcosm, 1934, p.37, Dickinson College Archives.
    Paper Horace E. Rogers wrote, "Fifty years (and more) as Student and Professor at Dickinson College" Dropfile, Dickinson College Special Collections.
    "Professor Rogers Talks at Scientific Club." The Dickinsonian. March 22, 1934, p.1, Dickinson College Archives.
    "Roger, Horace Elton" Dropfile, Dickinson College Archives.

    Return to Horace Elton Rogers

-Cynthia L. Mackey '03
Class of 1934     Chronicles

Dickinson College

 Dickinson 1934 is a project of Prof. Osborne's History 204 Class, Fall Semester 2000.