Distinguished Engineer Citations

                 

T. A. Rogers

Distinguished Engineer

1978

Degree

Electrical Engineering – 1928

 

Citation

At Time of Nomination in 1978

Fifty years ago, T.A. Rogers was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. This was a very special occasion in his life and in the life of Texas Tech, because it was the first Electrical Engineering degree awarded by this institution. Since that time, Mr. Rogers has established a company of national, and even international stature; has been issued patents on seventeen of his inventions; and has built a record of service in civic, business, church, and educational areas.

Following his graduation from Texas Tech, this native Arkansan, who grew up on a farm near Estelline, Texas, went to work as an engineer for Commonwealth Edison Power Company in Illinois. His was a job which did not survive company retrenchment in the early days of the depression, so he returned to Lubbock and from 1930 to 1933 was a junior partner in the Lubbock Machine Company. He has guided the company, now called the Lubbock Manufacturing Company, since that time and is today Chairman of the Board of Directors. He also serves as president of General Steel Warehouse, Inc.

In the World War II years Mr. Rogers was heavily involved in development of transport tanks for gasoline and propane, and since then has extended his expertise in the area to include the design and construction of pressure vehicles for transporting and storing such compressed gases as propane, anhydrous ammonia, carbon dioxide, chlorine, and liquefied natural gas, the complex engineering aspects of which have required generous amounts of imagination, conviction, courage, and financial risk. His ever–present sense of humor has been a valuable asset when theory and practice failed to agree.

Mr. Rogers has been a leader in farm machinery development, including irrigation equipment; grain storage bins that departed from the traditional and costly center support structures; static plows; and vibrating plows. Many times he has not only built new equipment but also developed the machinery to meet the manufacturing need.

Mr. Rogers is a former member of the Board of Regents of Lubbock Christian College, is president of the Board of Regents of Pepperdine University, a charter member of the Texas Tech Century Club, a life member of the West Texas Museum Association, and an enthusiastic volunteer worker for the Ranching Heritage Center. His list of professional, civic, social, and church–related memberships is a lengthy one which reflects favorably upon him and the engineering profession.

By any reasonable standard, T. A. Rogers has fully earned the title: DISTINGUISHED ENGINEER.

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