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NC Sea Grant’s Spencer Rogers Wins NC State University Award for Excellence

Above: Spencer Rogers receives an Award for Excellence from Randy Woodson, chancellor of NC State University. Photo by Becky Kirkland/NC State Communications

Contact:
Katie Mosher, kmosher@ncsu.edu, 919-515-9069

NC State University recently announced its 2019 Awards for Excellence winners. Spencer Rogers, coastal construction and erosion specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant, is one of 12 winners of the highest honor given annually to non-faculty staff at NC State. Rogers had been nominated by the university’s Office of Research and Innovation.

Clockwise from top left: Rogers with a wave gauge and hurricane forecast model. Rogers with University of North Carolina Wilmington graduate student Cobi Christiansen and University of New South Wales coastal geomorphologist Rob Brander as they worked on a rip currents study. Rogers with his wife, Carol Rogers. Rogers attaching a wave gauge to a dock in North Topsail Beach in advance of a storm. Rogers with a drifter, a device he uses to track movements during rip current experiments.

Rogers and the other winners are now eligible to be considered for this year’s Governor’s Award for Excellence. Last year, three NC State University employees took home a Governor’s Award for Excellence.

“At NC State, we’re proud to be able to attract and retain such outstanding talent,” Chancellor Randy Woodson said. “And I think the governor’s consistent recognition of our employees is further testament to the quality of our people.”

Each year since 1996, the university has presented these awards to recognize employees who “go above and beyond the call of duty” in one or more of the following categories: Customer Service, Efficiency and Innovation, Heroism, Human Relations, Outstanding State Government Service, Public Service, and the Spirit of North Carolina.

Rogers, a 40-year Sea Grant employee, was nominated in the category of Outstanding State Government Service. He previously has won awards from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the national Sea Grant Network, among others.

North Carolina Sea Grant has headquarters on NC State University’s Centennial Campus and three coastal offices. Rogers is based at the Wilmington office.

According to Sea Grant Extension Director Frank Lopez, it’s not hyperbole to say Rogers’ research and outreach related to rip currents and coastal construction has saved lives. Additionally, through his work with the North Carolina Building Code Council, it’s estimated Rogers has helped homeowners save over $1 million annually in reduced insurance premiums.

Download a high-resolution photo of Rogers here.  Read more of Rogers’ bio here.

Research Program Specialist Laura Kroeger also represented the Office of Research and Innovation at the University Awards for Excellence. Read more about their honors here.

Read about all 12 of this year’s NC State Award for Excellence winners here.

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