LSA has received a $2.5 million gift to establish the Pris Rogers Professorship in Strategic Communications in the Department of Communication and Media.
It honors the career of the late Priscilla S. Rogers, associate professor emerita of management communication in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, and will further enhance the department’s study and teaching of mass media’s influence and impact on every aspect of modern life.
The gift was made in Rogers’ memory by her life partner of 33 years, the late Gunter Dufey, professor emeritus of corporate strategy, international business and finance at the Ross School.
Fueled by her deep intellectual curiosity, Rogers’ research, most notably analyzing actual written and spoken corporate “texts-in-use,” addressed how business communication contributes to the process of getting work done, and how it affects and improves workplace relationships.
Rogers actively pursued her research in the field until her death in May 2023, contributing a chapter to Janis Forman’s 2022 book, “Business Communication Profession: Essays on the Journeys of Leading Teacher-Scholars.” She also was the founder and director of the MBA Writing Program and the Business Communication Program at Ross.
Dufey died in May 2024. His academic interests centered on international money and capital markets, and the financial policy of multinational corporations, focusing on issues of corporate governance, risk management and the international expansion strategy of business enterprises. He was a pioneer in the study of Asia-Pacific financial markets.
Rogers and Dufey lived in Singapore for part of each year, where they were members of a close-knit community of U-M alumni and faculty. They demonstrated a deep commitment to the international U-M alumni community, especially to students from Asia studying at U-M.
The Pris Rogers Professorship was the capstone of nearly 50 years of sustained philanthropy to the university. Rogers and Dufey supported the Ross School, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, LSA, Office of Financial Aid, Alumni Association and the U-M Museum of Art.
“The college is deeply grateful for Dr. Dufey’s and Dr. Rogers’ generosity,” said Tim McKay, interim dean of LSA. “Both were highly esteemed University of Michigan faculty, and we are honored to continue to advance knowledge of strategic communications in Pris Rogers’ name in LSA.”
