Rogers obtained BA and BS degrees in chemistry and in physics from the University of Texas, Austin in 1989, followed by SM degrees in physics and in chemistry from MIT in 1992 and a PhD degree in physical chemistry from MIT in 1995. He was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows from 1995 to 1997, during which time he worked in the laboratory of George M. Whitesides. He joined the Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff in the Condensed Matter Physics Research Department in 1997 and served as Director of that department from the end of 2000 through the end of 2002. In 2003 he joined University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign as Founder Professor of Engineering, with appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry. In 2008 he was named the Flory-Founder Chair in Engineering Innovation, and assumed affiliate appointments with the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. From 2010-2012 he was Director of the NSF NSEC Center on Nanomanufacturing. In 2012, he was appointed to a Swanlund Chair, the highest chaired position at the university and he assumed the position of Director of the Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. He moved to Northwestern University in the Fall of 2016, with an appointment as the first Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor, with appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Neurological Surgery, with affiliate appointments in the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He also became the first Director of the newly endowed Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, which was elevated to the Institute of Bioelectronics in 2019 through an additional contribution to the endowment by Kimberly Querrey and Louis Simpson, trustees at Northwestern University.
Current research
Rogers' research seeks to exploit characteristics of 'soft' materials, such as polymers, liquid crystals, and biological tissues as well as hybrid combinations of them with unusual classes of micro/nanomaterials, in the form of ribbons, wires, membranes, tubes or related. The aim is to control and induce novel electronic and photonic responses in these materials; and also develop new 'soft lithographic' and biomimetic approaches for patterning them and guiding their growth. This work combines fundamental studies with forward-looking engineering efforts in a way that promotes positive feedback between the two. Current research focuses on soft materials for conformal electronics, nanophotonic structures, microfluidic devices, and microelectromechanical systems, all lately with an emphasis on bio-inspired and bio-integrated technologies.
Awards and achievements
Rogers’ research deals with nano and molecular scale fabrication, materials, and patterning techniques for electronic and photonic devices, lately with a strong emphasis on bio-integrated systems. He has published over 750 papers, and is an inventor on over 100 patents and patent applications, more than 50 of which are licensed or in current use. Nearly 100 former PhD students and postdoctoral fellows from his group are now in faculty positions around the globe. He is one of ~20 people in history to have been elected to all three US national academies -- National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine.
Selected honors
Nancy DeLoye Fitzroy and Roland V. Fitzroy Medal, ASME, American Society for Mechanical Engineers,
Herbert Pardes Clinical Research Excellence Award, The Clinical Research Forum,
