Donaline Rogers began teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1975, shortly after receiving her degree in chemistry from UWSP.

After two semesters, she took a position at the Institute for Paper Chemistry, where she worked for eight years before returning to UWSP in 1984. By that time, the Nekoosa native had met her late husband, Professor Dick Rogers, a member of the UWSP communication faculty, and decided UWSP was the place to be.

Rogers has spent the past 18 years teaching laboratory classes for the chemistry department and has managed the area�s audiovisual lab since 1989. She says she has enjoyed her career at UWSP, her colleagues and students. She believes her greatest challenge has been motivating nonchemistry majors to become interested in the subject.

Rogers� favorite pursuit outside the classroom has been diversity preservation gardening which she plans to continue. Preservation gardening consists of growing plants from antique and rare seeds that are not available commercially. She obtains many of her seeds from Seed Savers Exchange (SSE), Decorah, Iowa. She is a lifetime member of SSE. Currently, among the vegetables she is growing are a kohlrabi from the Czech Republic and peas and tomatoes from Latvia. Rogers says using good seed-saving techniques is a major key to preserving the plants and she employs an old-fashioned root cellar to store biennial plants to grow for seed in the second year. She gardens on 50 acres of land on the Little Wolf River.

After retirement, in addition to maintaining her home six miles northeast of Rosholt, Rogers will spend time with family including four children and eight grandchildren. She also has planned an upcoming trip to California to see her daughter graduate from nursing school.

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sclanton/vc/Rogers retirement