Founding faculty member Waid Rogers, M.D., Ph.D., was born in New York City, NY on September 7, 1927 and passed away November 18, 2019. Dr. Rogers attended and graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1950 and received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College.
Dr. Rogers completed his internship and junior resident years at The New York Hospital, Cornell University Medical Center. He was recruited by Dr. Owen Wangensteen to the University of Minnesota Department of Surgery where he completed his surgical residency while also completing a Master of Science in Microbiology and a PhD in Surgery from the University of Minnesota under the tutelage of Drs. Wangensteen and Dr. J. Bradley Aust. Dr. Rogers was recruited by Dr. Aust as one of the founding faculty of the new University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio. Dr. Rogers, with seven of his surgical colleagues from Minnesota, joined the new medical school as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in 1967. Dr. Rogers and this group of founding surgical faculty remained in San Antonio for their entire careers. Dr. Rogers served in numerous leadership positions within the UT Health Science Center and the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital. He was the Chief of Surgery at the Audie Murphy VA Hospital for more than two decades and played a critical role in developing the discipline of Vascular Surgery at UT Health San Antonio.
Dr. Rogers’ entire professional life was spent in the education of medical students and surgical residents. At the time of his death, the new residency and medical school that he helped found had graduated it’s 335thsurgical resident in June 2019.
Waid Rogers was a kind and compassionate surgeon and teacher. He was a true scholar whose work had wide ranging influence on the fields of vascular, transplant and general surgery. Through the work of Dr. Rogers and his fellow transplanted Minnesota team of surgeons, he leaves an enduring legacy in South Texas and across the globe. He will be sadly missed.
The Waid Rogers, M.D., PhD. Endowment in Surgery will be a permanent endowment and shall be used for the benefit of the Department of Surgery in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. Funds distributed from the endowment shall be used to support trainees and residents within the Department of Surgery.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Philip Garza, Senior Director of Development, at (210) 567-2598.