The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Town Hall Meeting with Jim Rogers: A Discussion of North Carolina's Energy Future

Location: Wednesday, November 16 4:00pm - 5:00pm, BTEC RM#135

BIO

In 2008, as a high school graduation gift to his grandson, Rogers visited China for the first time. That trip opened a new area of professional interest – collaborating with the Chinese to bring clean energy technologies to scale – and forging cooperative agreements with leading energy companies and research institutes.

In 2011, Rogers received the Asia Society of Washington’s International Business Leadership Award and the Committee of 100’s Business Excellence Award for his efforts to improve business relations between the U.S. and China that benefit customers, the environment, and improve dialogue between the two nations.

Balancing Diverse Interests

Under Rogers’ leadership, Duke Energy has been recognized as a leader in sustainability – balancing the “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profits. In 2010 and 2011, the company was named to the elite Dow Jones Sustainability World Index; it has been a part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America for the past six years.

An early advocate for balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders, Rogers’ leadership approach was featured in Harvard Business Review.

Rogers was also a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a collaboration of leading businesses and environmental groups that came together to call on the federal government to enact legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Committed to Country and Community

Rogers has been an active community leader and has received a number of honors and awards for his service.

In his current home community of Charlotte, N.C., Rogers has led several civic endeavors, including the region’s re-visioning as a hub of energy commerce. He also co-chaired the $82 million campaign to build a new cultural campus in Uptown Charlotte. And supporting Charlotte and North Carolina’s economic development goals, he co-chaired the successful bi-partisan effort to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention and currently co-chairs the Charlotte Host Committee for the convention.

Personal Data and Education

Born in 1947 in Birmingham, Ala., Rogers grew up in Kentucky.

He attended Emory University and earned Bachelor of Business Administration and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Kentucky, where he was a member of the Kentucky Law Journal and Beta Gamma Sigma National Honor Society.

Rogers was named to the Hall of Fame at the Carol Martin Gatton College of Business and Economics and the Hall of Fame at the College of Law, both at the University of Kentucky. He was inducted into the University of Kentucky’s 2010 Hall of Distinguished Alumni. He has also been awarded Honorary Doctorate degrees from four universities.

Rogers and his wife, Mary Anne, have two daughters, a son and eight grandchildren.
Duke Energy, one of the largest power companies in the United States, supplies and delivers electricity to approximately 4 million customers in the Carolinas and the Midwest. The company also distributes natural gas in Ohio and Kentucky. Its commercial power and international businesses operate diverse power generation assets in North America and Latin America, including a growing renewable energy portfolio. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 500 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK.
September 29, 2011

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