James Stanley Rogers

James Stanley Rogers, (18 June 1893 – 23 July 1977) was an Australian physicist. A graduate of the University of Melbourne, he served in the Australian Army in the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross. During the Second World War, he was secretary and executive-officer of the Optical Munitions Panel, which oversaw the production of precision optical equipment.

Early life and education James Stanley Rogers (known to his family as Stan) was born in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, on 29 April 1895, the oldest of nine children of James Rogers, a Methodist clergyman, and his wife Agnes Caldwell. He had an younger brother, John David Rogers, and six younger sisters: Agnes, Jean, Ethel, Amelia (Mill), Lois and Ella. (Another brother died in infancy.) The family moved to Campbells Creek, Victoria, in 1900, and then to Dimboola, Victoria, in 1905.

Rogers attended the Bendigo Continuation School, where he was dux of the school and matriculated in 1910. He entered the University of Melbourne the following year, and studied for his Bachelor of Arts degree while working as a teacher at schools in country Victoria, including Shepparton Agricultural High School. He was a lieutenant in the Senior Cadets. The 14th battalion took heavy casualties in the Battle of Pozieres, and he was promoted to lieutenant on 25 August 1916. His recommendation read:Has done very good work especially during operations in June 1917, and during the period when the division occupied the Messines and Wytschaete sectors in July and August 1917. He performed the work of GSO III very effectively. In March of that year, he quit teaching to study for a Master of Science degree in physics under the supervision of Thomas Laby, which he received in 1922. His research examined the structure of the platinum and tungsten, and the scattering and absorption of X-rays. On 12 July 1922, he married Hazel Carr, the daughter of Geelong City Councillor W. L. Carr, at the Presbyterian Church in the Melbourne suburb of Kew. They had two daughters. He was admitted to the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory on Laby's recommendation, and pursued a Doctor of Philosophy degree measuring the ranges of alpha particles emitted from various radioactive substances. He remained at the Cavendish Laboratory for only two years, returning to the University of Melbourne to take up a senior lectureship offered by Laby. However the Cambridge examiners were less impressed with his research, and awarded him a Master of Science degree instead of a PhD. He continued research and published papers, and ultimately was awarded a Doctor of Science degree in 1945. He taught physics to medicine students, writing a text book, Physics for Medical Students (1933). He wrote a short history of the branch. He returned to the Parkville campus in 1950 as the dean of graduate studies and warden of overseas students. He retired in 1963. He died in Heidelberg on 23 July 1977 and his remains were cremated.