Eric Paul Rogers is an institutional researcher, organizational strategist, educator, and independent scholar whose career has centered on helping complex organizations understand themselves and make better decisions through evidence. Over nearly four decades, he served in teaching, administrative, and research leadership roles within one of the world’s largest religious education organizations. His work culminated as Manager of Research for Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I), where he supported executive leaders through institutional research, program evaluation, strategic analysis, and organizational assessment. Because much of this work involved confidential organizational data and executive decision-making, many individual projects cannot be described publicly. The experience nevertheless reflects extensive work translating complex evidence into actionable insights while maintaining rigorous standards of privacy and institutional trust. Link to his experience.
His professional experience spans secondary and higher education, language instruction, faculty development, and institutional leadership. He taught German at the Missionary Training Center (MTC), Brigham Young University, and the University of Texas at Austin; taught released-time seminary at Brighton and Alta Seminaries; directed the Institute of Religion at the University of Montana; taught religion courses at Brigham Young University and BYU–Hawaii; and trained and supervised instructors at the MTC. Throughout these roles, he developed expertise in organizational learning, assessment, leadership development, and educational innovation.
Alongside his executive career, Rogers has established himself as a scholar of the Restoration Movement. His research examines how religious institutions develop, differentiate, and sustain legitimacy across multiple Restoration traditions, including the Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite), Community of Christ, the Apostolic United Brethren, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His work explores how questions of authority, identity, and belonging are negotiated through institutional change, schism, governance, and boundary formation. More recently, his scholarship has examined the history of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, with particular attention to gender, family, employment, organizational technology, and the evolution of institutional knowledge.
His scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Mormon History, Religious Educator, Educating about Religious Diversity and Interfaith Engagement: A Handbook for Student Affairs, and The Persistence of Polygamy: A Mormon Anthology, Volume III, among other publications. He serves on the Board of Directors of the John Whitmer Historical Association, where he has held leadership responsibilities for conference programming, governance, and scholarly initiatives. Rogers has been nominated for election as President-Elect at the Association's September 2026 annual conference. If elected, he will serve successive one-year terms as President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President, providing executive leadership for the Association and its Board of Directors. Link to his scholarly activity.
Current research includes a collaborative history of the digital transformation of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, coauthored with James Izatt, former Director of Technology for S&I, as well as documentary editions of the Journals of Mark Hill Forscutt and Sketch of Joseph Morris. Across both his professional and scholarly work, Rogers is interested in how institutions create, preserve, and use knowledge to shape decision-making, governance, and organizational identity.
Rogers holds a PhD in Instructional Psychology and Technology and MA and BA degrees in Germanic Studies and Foreign Language Education. Link to his education.