Rogers, Patrick Kerr, 1776-1828

Dates

• Existence: 1776 - 1828 August 1

Biography

Patrick Kerr Rogers (1776 - 1828) was an Irish physician and educator. He is the father of William Barton Rogers, founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was also known for being an active medical practitioner, as well as professor of chemistry and natural philosophy.

Born in Ireland, Rogers strongly opposed the British government's role in Irish politics, often publishing his defiance and progressive views in local newspapers [1]. Fearing arrest, Rogers emigrated to the United States in 1798, settling in Philadelphia [1]. He soon married Hannah Blythe, sharing four children together: James Blythe Rogers, William Barton Rogers, Henry Darwin Rogers, and Robert Empie Rogers.

Working as a tutor to support himself, Rogers would soon earn his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1802 [1]. Primarily operating as a physician for the following decade, Rogers would also give scientific lectures on botany and chemistry before relocating his family to Baltimore, and later Virginia where he began his professorship at the College of William and Mary in 1819 [1]. His first three sons, James, William, and Henry would each attend William and Mary under his tenure at the College.

Patrick Kerr Rogers died in 1828 in Maryland. William Barton Rogers, his second son, would succeed him in his role as professor at William and Mary.

1. W. S. W. Ruschenberger, "A Sketch of the Life of Robert E. Rogers, M. D., LL. D., with Biographical Notices of His Father and Brothers" American Philosophical Society, Vol. 23, No. 121 (January 1886)

Occupations

• University and college faculty members
• Physicians

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