Curtis Rogers

Curtis C. Rogers Jr.
Born	July 1938 Jamestown, New York
Known for	GEDmatch
Notable work	The Forensic Revolution
Spouse	Janet Siegel Rogers
Children	4

Curtis C. Rogers Jr. is an American genetic genealogist, digital forensics specialist, and executive known for establishing GEDmatch, a genetic genealogy website.[1][2]

Early life and education

Curtis C. Rogers Jr. was born in Jamestown, New York, and was raised in Dunkirk, New York. He developed an interest in genealogy during his early teenage years. Rogers obtained graduate degrees in business (MBA) from Michigan State University and psychology (MS in Counseling Psychology) from Barry University.

Career

After his university studies, Rogers initially worked at Corn Products, known for Hellmann's Mayonnaise and Skippy Peanut Butter. During this period, he lived in Hong Kong and the Philippines. He later became the Director of the Far East for Quaker Oats, living in Singapore, and subsequently served as the Far East and Canadian Manager for The Mennen Company.[3]

GEDmatch and genetic genealogy

In 2010, Curtis Rogers and John Olsen established GEDmatch as a hobbyist project.[4] Rogers served as the CEO, while Olson served as the technical manager. Currently, it is a website that specializes in the development and application of genetic genealogy for law enforcement. GEDmatch was the first platform to enable the use of genetic genealogy to solve violent crime cases and identify unidentified human remains.

Currently, GEDmatch is a website that has two databases. The primary database has the information of all the members who have submitted their information to GEDmatch and is used strictly for genealogical purposes. The second database contains the information of those who have given their permission for their information to be available to law enforcement if their genetic information matches information gathered at the scene of a violent crime. It is also used to identify unidentified human remains. The first publicized use of GEDmatch for law enforcement was in the arrest of the Golden State Killer on April 25, 2018.[5][6] It was later announced that the site was previously involved in the capture of the Chameleon Killer.

Initially, GEDmatch had the only database available for law enforcement use,[5] and Rogers was responsible for developing guidelines for the complicated ethical and operational issues. Today, GEDmatch is also widely used by family genealogists.

Publications

Rogers authored the book A Forensic Revolution, which documents the introduction of genetic genealogy in law enforcement. His work compares the use of genetic genealogy to the introduction of fingerprinting over a century ago.[7]

Personal life

He is married to Janet Siegel Rogers, an artist known for her color interaction paintings.[8] Together, they have four children.

References

1. Murphy, Heather (2019-04-25). "Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
2. Khatchadourian, Raffi (November 15, 2021). "How Your Family Tree Could Catch a Killer". The New Yorker – via www.newyorker.com.
3. "Eyes on Privacy". Northeastern University Law Review.
4. Wang, Mengge; Chen, Hongyu; Luo, Lintao; Huang, Yuguo; Duan, Shuhan; Yuan, Huijun; Tang, Renkuan; Liu, Chao; He, Guanglin (July 2024). "Forensic investigative genetic genealogy: expanding pedigree tracing and genetic inquiry in the genomic era". Journal of Genetics and Genomics. doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2024.06.016. PMID 38969261.
5. Zhang, Sarah (May 19, 2018). "The Coming Wave of Murders Solved by Genealogy". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
6. "'Open-source' genealogy site provided missing DNA link to East Area Rapist, investigator says". Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019 – via Sacramento Bee.
7. Rogers, Curtis (June 7, 2024). "A Forensic Revolution: IGG Investigative Genetic Genealogy". Authorlink.
8. Murphy, Heather (2018-10-15). "How an Unlikely Family History Website Transformed Cold Case Investigations". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-10-17.