Lee Rogers, ’59 MD, professor emeritus and longtime former chair of Radiology, has died at 90.
Rogers, a distinguished musculoskeletal radiologist who led the Department of Radiology for 22 years, was a passionate advocate for medical education at Feinberg. Rogers’ philanthropic support helped establish the first endowed professorship in Medical Education at Northwestern University: The Lee F. Rogers, MD Professorship in Medical Education. Rogers also jumpstarted efforts to develop an endowed professorship in Interventional Radiology, resulting in the Albert Nemcek Education Professorship in Radiology.
Rogers received a bachelor’s in medical arts in 1956 and his medical degree in 1959, both from Northwestern. Rogers went on to complete his residency in radiology at Fitzsimons General Hospital Army Medical Center. Rogers was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1959 and advanced to major by 1967. He served as chief of radiology at the 2nd General Army Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany and then as Vice Chief of Radiology at the U.S. Army Brooke General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
Rogers was a prolific scientist, having published more than 150 scientific articles, 122 editorials, and four textbooks, including The Radiology of Skeletal Trauma. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Roentgenology from 1995 to 2003. The American Roentgen Ray Society established a fellowship in Rogers’ honor: the Lee F. Rogers International Fellowship in Radiology Journalism. The fellowship offers radiologists practicing outside of the U.S. and Canada an opportunity to learn the fundamentals of medical publishing through hands-on experience with the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Several of Rogers’ scientific discoveries led to changes in his field. His articles published in the American Journal of Radiology in the early 2000s concerning radiation exposure in children receiving CT scans led to a significant reduction in radiation dose for pediatric patients.
Rogers’ career earned him many accolades: He received Gold Medal Awards from the American College of Radiology, the Association of University Radiologists, the Chicago Radiology Society, the American Society of Emergency Radiology and the Radiological Society of North America.
