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The Keeper of Central Campus

Albert Rogers Jr. and his team maintain the grounds and apartments of Central Campus

Albert Rogers Jr. stands in front of a few pieces of grounds equipment next to his Central Campus office, including a John Deere tractor he and his team have named “Betsy.” They have come up with fun names for many pieces of Central Campus equipment,
Albert Rogers Jr. stands in front of a few pieces of grounds equipment next to his Central Campus office, including a John Deere tractor he and his team have named “Betsy.” They have come up with fun names for many pieces of Central Campus equipment, to include lawnmowers and golf carts. Photo by April Dudash

Name: Albert Rogers Jr.Position: Operations supervisor for Central CampusYears at Duke: 15

What I do at Duke: Me and my team of seven great employees are responsible for all the grounds and buildings on Central Campus, such as cutting grass, edging, pruning trees, and then we maintain all the walking areas and we furnish all of the apartments. During move-outs and move-ins, we’re responsible for making sure the places are presentable for the students who are arriving. 

If I had $5 million, I would: want to be debt-free. My wife and I also always wanted to establish some kind of scholarship for her university, Meredith College.

My first ever job: I was 16 and I was a security guard at the University of Massachusetts. I had a cool little maroon jacket with some black pants and I had a flashlight and a whistle. I was a security guard at night, so it was quiet. It was like walking around in a graveyard.

My dream job: Sports anchor for the Carolina Panthers. They wouldn’t even have to pay me.

If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: my wife, Stephanie. We’ve been together since she was 12 and I was 14. We lived three blocks away from each other, and she came to my middle school dance with a friend of mine who went to school with me, and we’ve been together ever since. We’ll celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary in June.

The best advice I ever received: Don’t take it home. When you clock out at the end of the day, leave it all here, because it will be here when you come in in the morning.

What I love about Duke: I have the pleasure of working with great people that I really enjoy spending time with. You just find yourself here for a full year, then you blink your eyes and it’s five, and you blink your eyes again and it’s 10. Duke draws you in.

When I’m not at work, I like to: work out. Me and my wife, we go to the gym every morning, probably around 4:30. We love to travel and we take a cruise every year.

An interesting/memorable day at work for me: We used to hire football players and sororities for the summer. They would help run the office, and the football players would help us move furniture and help maintain the grounds during the summer. They were an extension of us. It created such a family-friendly atmosphere in our office. The best moments are when students whom I hired back in 2001 come back and we have lunch, and they have kids of their own and they’re married. Football players who go pro, they come back and they sit down and play cards with us. Thaddeus Lewis, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, came to visit sometime in July of 2015. We had lunch and played cards.

A pet peeve: Inconsistency. When people have personalities when you’re up one day or down the next, that drives me crazy.