Rogers, a Founder Professor of Engineering in the University of Illinois departments of Materials Science and Engineering and of Chemistry, earned the Fellow status for "contributions to the fields of flexible electronics, optical fiber devices, nanolithography and picosecond ultrasonics."

The honor is given to only a few scientists each year. The By-Laws of the American Physical Society state: "Each year, no more than one-half of one percent of the then current membership of the Society are recognized by their peers for election to the status of Fellow in The American Physical Society."

Some of Rogers' research interests include the science and engineering of so-called soft materials like polymers and biological tissues, as well as work on carbon nanotubes and on a stretchable form of single crystal silicon.