Rogers ’80 to head council for citizens’ financial education

“I let him run on for a bit to see what bull shine he would unload on me,” Reinhardt said in an e-mail. But he was not taken in: One of Reinhardt’s classes at the time focused on pricing and selecting life insurance policies.

But the story could be very different for most Americans, who, Reinhardt said, are very susceptible to numerous financial “shysters” — individuals and institutions who use deceptive techniques to “rob them of their wealth.” Reinhardt is also a columnist for The Daily Princetonian.

The Advisory Council on Financial Capability, a new committee created by an executive order to complement recent consumer-protection legislation, aims to help President Barack Obama create effective policy to help Americans make better, more informed financial decisions.

On Oct. 12, Obama announced his intention to appoint John Rogers, Jr., ’80 as chair of this council. Rogers is currently chairman, chief executive and chief investment officer of Ariel Investments, a mutual fund he founded that invests in small and mid-cap companies.

“The council can do some good, especially if it helps to develop a solid high school curriculum to help Americans engage in more prudent life cycle financial planning: how much to save, in what vehicles, what kind of life insurance to buy, what kind of health insurance and so on,” Reinhardt added.

As captain of the men’s basketball team during the 1979-80 season, Rogers led the Tigers to an Ivy League co-championship. But both on and off the courts, he also displayed an interest in improving financial literacy.

Rogers graduated from the University with a degree in economics; his senior thesis explored why blacks had to pay more than whites for the same quality of urban housing. Much of Rogers’ work both during and after college has been defined by his commitment to financial literacy and contemporary civil rights issues.

At the time, basketball was a “sport that people with means didn’t play,” said Craig Robinson ’83, a close friend and former teammate of Rogers. Coming from a prominent family with political and financial connections, Rogers quickly became an inspiration for his teammates, some of whom had very little exposure to finance.

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“We had no understanding of the financial world,” said Stephen Mills ’81, another of Rogers’ teammates, who is from Roosevelt, N.Y., a low-income neighborhood on Long Island.

“While we were on the road [for games], he would call to talk about stocks,” he said. “We always were involved in financial debates.” Mills said that Rogers worked hard to expose his teammates to aspects of the world that they had no access to. For example, Rogers took Mills to his first U.S. Open match, despite Mills having been raised just 20 miles from Flushing Meadows. Rogers was also the only person Mills knew in college with a stockbroker.

Mills has since worked his way up the financial world to become president and chief operating officer of the Madison Square Garden sports networks.

Robinson also came from a predominantly black, blue-collar neighborhood in Chicago. When he came to the University for basketball team recruiting, Rogers was his host and a significant influence on his decision to attend Princeton.

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“He really opened my eyes to what Princeton could bring both on the court and off the court,” he said. “John was the first person I met who read The Wall Street Journal, and he is the reason I got into the financial industry."

After graduating from Princeton, Robinson became one of the original board members of Rogers’ Ariel Foundation, a nonprofit education organization, became a vice president at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and is now head coach of Oregon State University’s men’s basketball team. Robinson is also the brother of First Lady Michelle Obama ’85.

In addition to founding Ariel Investments just three years after graduating, Rogers is currently a trustee of the University of Chicago and a director of the Chicago Urban League. He is also on the board of directors of McDonald’s, whose $1 burgers he loved as a student and continues to enjoy, said former teammate Randy Melville ’81.

Apart from those positions, Rogers has devoted much of his life to addressing diversity issues through public service. One of his goals is improving the quality of schools for inner-city children. In 1991, the Ariel Foundation sponsored the creation of the Ariel Community Academy, a public elementary school on the south side of Chicago that incorporates investing and financial literacy into its curriculum.

He is also committed to creating better opportunities for African-American professionals and businesses.

“He was always concerned with companies having enough diversity, especially in the financial community,” Robinson said. “After starting Ariel Investments, he fought hard to allow other minority firms to also participate in similar processes.”

For all of his efforts, Rogers was awarded Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson Award in 2008, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a Princeton graduate.

Rogers’ new role in the Advisory Council on Financial Capability is fitting for someone like him, Mills said. “Just as through his career and at Ariel he has been an advocate for getting people to understand their options in investing, he will be an advocate for all consumers in America.”

Reinhardt expressed a similar sentiment. “I do not know Mr. Rogers personally,” he said. “But he appears to be a very distinguished gentleman who has done Princeton proud.”

Rogers was a major fundraiser for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and chaired the Presidential Inaugural Committee in 2009. Rogers declined to comment on his appointment for this story.