Curtis Rogers
Curtis C. Rogers Jr. is an American genetic genealogist, digital forensics specialist, and executive known for establishing GEDmatch, a genetic genealogy website.
Early life and education
Curtis C. Rogers Jr. was born in Jamestown, New York, and was raised in Dunkirk, New York. He developed an interest in genealogy during his early teenage years. Rogers obtained graduate degrees in business from Michigan State University and psychology from Barry University.Career
After his university studies, Rogers initially worked at Corn Products, known for Hellmann's Mayonnaise and Skippy Peanut Butter. During this period, he lived in Hong Kong and the Philippines. He later became the Director of the Far East for Quaker Oats, living in Singapore, and subsequently served as the Far East and Canadian Manager for The Mennen Company.GEDmatch and genetic genealogy
In 2010, Curtis Rogers and John Olsen established GEDmatch as a hobbyist project. Rogers served as the CEO, while Olson served as the technical manager. Currently, it is a website that specializes in the development and application of genetic genealogy for law enforcement. GEDmatch was the first platform to enable the use of genetic genealogy to solve violent crime cases and identify unidentified human remains.Currently, GEDmatch is a website that has two databases. The primary database has the information of all the members who have submitted their information to GEDmatch and is used strictly for genealogical purposes. The second database contains the information of those who have given their permission for their information to be available to law enforcement if their genetic information matches information gathered at the scene of a violent crime. It is also used to identify unidentified human remains. The first publicized use of GEDmatch for law enforcement was in the arrest of the Golden State Killer on April 25, 2018. It was later announced that the site was previously involved in the capture of the Chameleon Killer.
Initially, GEDmatch had the only database available for law enforcement use, and Rogers was responsible for developing guidelines for the complicated ethical and operational issues. Today, GEDmatch is also widely used by family genealogists.