Edmund B. Rogers (1891-1972) received the national level Pugsley Medal in 1960 for "his service as the chief executive of two great national parks inside the Rocky Mountains, the successful results of his far-reaching historical research, and his dedication to the cause of natural resource conservation." He was known to call men and women in vacation time to the pursuits in the world of professionals and businesses. Even bankers answer the call of the wild, but rarely does a banker forsake his fascinating trade and dedicate his life to the conservation of nature and natural resources. Edmund Burrell Rogers did just that through a 30-year career as a senior executive in the National Park Service.
His father was a pioneer Colorado surgeon, so he was a member of an old and distinguished family of Denver. His boyhood was spent in the Rockies. He was educated in Denver public schools before becoming a student at Cornell University and then transferring to Yale University, where he received his A.B. Degree in 1914. During his college years he worked for the U.S. Geological Survey and also briefly was the finance manager of the Rocky Mountain Division of the American Red Cross. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War I, he became a trust officer with the Colorado National Bank from 1919-1929.
Ten years followed with ever-increasing travel and new problems for the superintendent to deal with. Calmly and efficiently he solved them, and the great park's affairs were always in order. Beginning in 1957 he served as special assistant to the NPS director and remained in that position until his retirement in 1961.