In Memoriam: Paul Rogers

Paul G. Rogers, the Florida congressman who was an early champion of the PA profession and whose interest in health matters earned him the nickname "Mr. Health," died on October 13. Rogers was awarded the Association's Outstanding Service Award in 1993 for his services to the profession, and had recently been awarded the AAPA President’s Award at its 2008 PA Conference in San Antonio for “his exemplary public service and commitment to health care and the PA profession.” Rogers was memorialized by the AAPA in its November 15 issue of AAPA News.

Rogers was chair of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment for many years and also chaired the board of the Friends of the National Library of Medicine. He was very active in development of the Title VII legislation that helped fund early PA programs.

University of Utah PA Program Director Don Pedersen remembers Rogers as a great advocate and a good friend of the Utah PA program, where he gave the program’s graduation address in 2004 and where a service learning scholarship was established in his name. Pedersen recalls that the founders of the Utah program, Bill Wilson and Hilmon Castle, worked with Rogers during the development of the Title VII legislation.