Dr. Rogers graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics in 2007 from West Virginia University and entered the graduate program at George Mason University pursuing his PhD in Economics. He was awarded the Israel M. Kirzner Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Austrian Economics for his “Organizing Crime: Towards a Theory of the Criminal Firm.” His research was published in 2012 in the Supreme Court Economic Review, Vol20, as the integral component of  “ Organizing Crime”, by Dr. Peter Leeson. His other publications include: “Violence, Access and Competition in the Market for Protection”, March 2013 European Journal of Political Economics, “ Why Governments Fail” written collaboratively with Dr. Peter Boettke for The Adam Smith Institute, and a book review of Peter Ubel’s book, Free Market Madness. Additionally, Doug served as Research Assistant for Dr. Peter Leeson’s book, The Invisible Hook.

Doug’s parents, sister, brother-in-law, 3 nieces and nephew along with numerous friends have chosen to honor his memory by creating the essay competition. Doug very much enjoyed teaching and inspiring undergraduate students to seek knowledge through truth. This program hopes to continue that legacy as well as providing meaningful rewards to promising young authors.

If you would like to help fund the competition and the resulting scholarships, please consider a donation.