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Alumnus Gives $12.1 Million For Law School Scholarships

Alumni, parents and friends of SMU from the Houston area have committed more than $100 million toward SMU’s Second Century Campaign, capped by a $12.1 million gift by W. Yandell “Tog” Rogers, Jr. ’61 of Houston, shown with wife Suzie.

SMU law graduate W. Yandell “Tog” Rogers, Jr. of Houston is giving back to the school he attended on a scholarship. His gift of $12.1 million will provide scholarships for students in SMU’s Dedman School of Law. The W. Yandell “Tog” Rogers Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund is the second largest gift in the history of the law school, following the Dedman family gift of $20 million that resulted in naming of the school.

Trustee Scott J. McClean ’78 (left), Houston co-chair of he Second Century Campaign Steering Committee, was among those honoring W. Yandell “Tog” Rogers, Jr. ’61 and his wife, Suzie, at a reception and presentation at the Houstonian November 1.

“The Rogers Scholarships will provide resources to educate leaders like Tog,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
Through a scholarship arranged by Law Professor Roy Ray, Rogers was able to complete law school and graduate in 1961. “I’m paying back a debt,” says Rogers. “Without a scholarship, I wouldn’t have made it through the SMU School
of Law. This gift is to help other people in need do what I was able to do.”
Rogers is a retired lawyer and businessman. He clerked for Texas Supreme Court Justices Clyde Smith and Joe Greenhill. He was an associate in the Dallas law firm of Wynne, McKenzie, Jaffe and Tinsley from 1961 to 1967. As part of the firm’s litigation practice, he represented celebrities such as baseball legend Mickey Mantle.
> Houston Commitments, Gifts Top $100 Million
Rogers moved to Houston in 1967. He served as general counsel at Ridgway Blueprinting, a small, publicly traded company, before becoming president of the company. He took Ridgway private and purchased the company, selling it to American Reprographic Company in 2000. At that time, Ridgway was the largest privately held reprographics company in the U.S.
Rogers is a member of the Executive Board of Dedman School of Law and the Houston Steering Committee of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign. Three of his five children are SMU graduates. Wiley Yandell Rogers III earned a B.B.A. in finance in 1986. Laura Rogers Braun earned an M.B.A. in 1987, and Matthew Alford Rogers graduated in 2003 with B.A. degrees in public policy and economics.
“Continued investment in scholarships and faculty is essential to SMU Dedman Law remaining competitive and advancing the momentum of recent years,” says Dedman Law Dean John B. Attanasio.
With Rogers’ gift of $12.1 million, SMU Dedman School of Law has raised more than $55 million in gifts to The Second Century Campaign.

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