Remembering Former ABR President Lee Rogers, MD
By Heather S. Hopkins, ABR Communications Coordinator
2025;18(1):11
Lee F. Rogers, MD, died November 28, 2024, in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 90. A musculoskeletal radiologist, Dr. Rogers was professor emeritus and former chair of radiology at Northwestern Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine. A lifelong educator, he led the Northwestern Department of Radiology for 22 years.
Dr. Rogers was a member of the ABR Board of Trustees from 1983 to 1995 and was ABR president from 1992 to 1994. Between 1971 and 1995, he served as an oral examiner 33 times.
“Dr. Rogers was a luminary musculoskeletal imager who will be remembered by many diplomates for his two-volume textbook, Radiology of Skeletal Trauma,” said former ABR Governor and Board of Trustees Chair Donald J. Flemming, MD, “but his passion for education and his generous sharing of time and wisdom will never be forgotten by those who were blessed to work with him. His quote, ‘Don’t let the fear of being wrong rob you of the joy of being right’ is one that I share with trainees on a regular basis, because it so nicely addresses our shared struggle with uncertainty.”
Born in Vermont in 1934, Dr. Rogers earned his bachelor’s degree in 1956 and his medical degree in 1959, both from Northwestern, then completed a residency in radiology at Fitzsimons General Hospital Army Medical Center. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1959 and advanced to major in 1967.
Prior to teaching at Northwestern, he was chief of radiology at the 2nd General Army Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, and then vice chief of radiology at the U.S. Army Brooke General Hospital in San Antonio.
Dr. Rogers published more than 150 scientific articles, 122 editorials, and four textbooks, and he served as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Roentgenology from 1995 to 2003. Some of his scientific studies led to changes in radiology, most notably his articles in the early 2000s about radiation exposure in children, which led to pediatric radiation doses being significantly reduced.1
A distinguished radiologist with a national and international reputation, Dr. Rogers received Gold Medal awards from the American College of Radiology (ACR), the Association of University Radiologists (now the Association of Academic Radiology), the Chicago Radiology Society, the American Society of Emergency Radiology, and the Radiological Society of North America.
As ABR president, Dr. Rogers helped expand the organization’s subspecialty certification program.2 The nuclear radiology subspecialty had been established in the early 1970s. In 1992, the ABR voted to grant certificates of added qualification (CAQs, now called subspecialty certificates) in neuroradiology, pediatric radiology, and vascular and interventional radiology. The decision ignited controversy, as some radiologists thought subspecialization fragmented the specialty and diluted the value of general board certification.
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) had to grant permission for the ABR to implement the exams and award the certificates, and prior to the ABMS considering the proposal, several state delegations presented resolutions to the ACR opposing the plan. In the opening session of the 1992 ACR meeting, Dr. Rogers gave an impassioned speech about the value of subspecialty certification in enhancing the skills and knowledge of trainees.3
“By granting CAQs, we would ensure competence and give credibility, as perceived by their clinical colleagues, to radiologists practicing these subspecialties,” he said. “We would improve the professional skills and capabilities of trainees by intensifying the learning experience in fellowships. Improved training would result in improved quality of care.”
Former ABR Executive Director Gary J. Becker, MD, said that Dr. Rogers was “the right leader in the right place at the right time. In his now-legendary speech, armed only with the facts and his gift of oratory, he systematically dismantled the case against subspecialization, and in doing so, masterfully turned the tide in favor of the ABR’s plan.”
In the ensuing discussion, state delegations that had been strongly opposed softened their stances, withdrew their objections, and voted in favor, and the ABMS ultimately approved the new subspecialties.
“It would be difficult to overstate how important this was to me,” said Dr. Becker. “I was on the Society of Interventional Radiology (then the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology) Executive Council, in charge of education/training, and had worked closely with the Radiology Residency Review Committee to develop the language of the training requirements for subspecialty certification in vascular and interventional radiology. Lee’s ACR Council oration instantly made him my hero.”
Lee was a multi-dimensional man whose true breadth and depth deserve a fuller description than I can provide in these few lines. His impact will live on in the radiologists he trained and in the many ways he improved the field.”
1Dimmer, O. Remembering influential radiologist Lee Rogers. December 11, 2024. Northwestern Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine website. https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2024/12/11/remembering-renowned-radiologist-lee-rogers/
2Huckman MS. The lessons of history. Am J Neuroradiol 1993;14(1):1-2. http://www.ajnr.org/content/14/1/1
3Linton, OW. The American Board of Radiology: 75 Years of Serving the Public. The American Board of Radiology. 2009, pp. 119-122, 217-223.
