Former UT President and Department of Chemistry benefactor Lorene Rogers dies

Lorene Rogers, a former University of Texas president and the first woman to lead a major research university in the United States passed away Sunday at an assisted-living center in Dallas. She was 94 years old.

Ms. Rogers earned master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas in biochemistry and then joined the faculty of the Department of Home Economics and Nutrition in 1949. In 1964 she was appointed assistant dean of the graduate school, beginning her administrative career with the university. She gradually rose though the ranks and became an interim president in 1974 and the president the next year. She served as the university president from 1975 to 1979.

Ms. Rogers created the Burl Gordon Rogers Scholarship in memory of her late husband. Burl Rogers was a chemist and sparked his wife's interest in studying chemistry. The scholarship is awarded to outstanding undergraduate chemistry majors.