Dr. Daniel Rogers joined the USA Department of History in 1991 and remained until
his retirement in 2017, when he was named professor emeritus. He taught courses on
Western Civilization, modern Germany, modern Europe, and the World Wars.
Dr. Rogers is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He grew up mostly in Alabama, but also
with a memorable five years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that left him with a life-long
desire to wear Pirates and Penguins paraphernalia. He graduated from Andalusia High
School and enrolled in the University of Alabama with the intention of using his major
in history and minor in German as stepping stones to law school. When he was given
the chance to spend his entire junior year studying in Germany, though, he changed
his mind and chose to pursue graduate degrees in German history.
He attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While
working on his Ph.D. research, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to return to
Germany and the University of Bonn. Upon graduation he was a visiting assistant professor
for one year at the University of Maryland, and then accepted his position on the
USA faculty the following year. He initiated USA's courses on the Holocaust, Nazi
Germany, World War I, and World War II. Late in his career, after he enrolled as a
student himself at USA for three years' worth of Italian language classes, he offered
a course on the history of Italy.
Since retirement, Dr. Rogers has shifted his research focus to the history of World
War II in the Pacific. He has published an article on the Battle of Tarawa and two
books, one on Tarawa and the other on Mobile’s museum battleship, USS Alabama. During
the summer months he can often be found pulling a fifth-wheel RV to high altitudes
or northern latitudes.
