The Rodgers Family

The Robert R. Rodgers Memorial Scholarship

Dr. Robert R. Rodgers
1925 – 2004
In profound ways, he and the college were an ideal fit, and there was abundant mutual benefit in his long relationship with Empire State College.
~ Anne R. Bertholf former dean of the Niagara Frontier Center

The Robert R. Rodgers Memorial Scholarship honors the life and work of Dr. Robert R. Rodgers, who was a mentor and professor at Empire State College’s Niagara Frontier Center in Buffalo, New York for nearly 30 years. Dr. Rodgers worked with hundreds of students, designing learning contracts that focused on human development and human services at all academic levels. He was passionately devoted to nontraditional education and was a curious lifelong learner himself.

Dr. Rodgers joined the faculty of Empire State College in 1974 and remained with us until 2002. He enriched the experiences of both faculty and students with whom he worked in ways that cannot be forgotten. Often heard from his office were the sounds of intense academic debate always broken by bursts of laughter. Even the sounds of children playing were familiar to his office space since he kept an array of toys for little ones to explore while they waited for their parent to finish meeting with him. He was known to always defend, and at times debate, how the institution best served its students. He did so because he cherished Empire State College, his colleagues, and most of all, his students. We were fortunate to have Dr. Rodgers pushing us, pulling us and guiding us toward greater service for the adult learners whom we serve. Dr. Rodgers also was strongly committed to the cause of peace and social justice, and saw educational opportunity as an essential means of transforming society for the better.

In honor of Dr. Rodgers’ deep commitment to lifelong learning and academic challenge, the Robert R. Rodgers Scholarship will be awarded to students at the Niagara Frontier Center who are pursuing studies in one of the broad areas in which Dr. Rodgers worked – human development, community and human services, and cultural studies including the study of poetry. Awards will be made on the basis of academic merit and financial need. Academic performance, academic promise, likelihood of degree completion, likelihood to undertake graduate study, significant community service and career potential will be strongly considered when awarding the Robert R. Rodgers Scholarship.

This scholarship has been funded through the generosity of the Rodgers family.