Arnetta Collins Rodgers

I was born in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of four girls, but grew up in South Bend, Indiana. My dad worked at the Studebaker Auto Plant, my mother as a Secretary at the Y.W.C.A. I completed elementary and high school there.

After high school graduation I enrolled in Howard University in Washington, D.C. where I earned my BA Degree in 1964. In 1966, I earned my Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois and some 12 years later in 1978 my Ph.D.

From 1966-68, I was a Social Worker with the Jewish Family Service in New York, New York, a Psychiatric Social Worker for the Virgin Islands Department of Mental Health, St. Thomas, V. I. 1968 - 1969; Social Worker in the Unit #4 School District - 1970 - 1993 (intermittently; Assistant Principal at the Edison Middle School 1992-1993 and lastly, Principal 1993-2000 at the Booker T. Washington School.

I have done a lot of research in many areas, but I feel my Master's thesis titled "Pre-Natal Care Among Champaign-Urbana Negro Mothers" was most outstanding in content and according to the late Mr. Vernon Barkstall, laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Frances Nelson Health Center.

Academic honors include: Phi Beta Kappa, Post-Doctoral Appointment 1978-1980, University of Illinois Institute on Racism.

I am the wife of Dr. Frederick Rodgers, retired from the University of Illinois College of Education. We are the parents of 4 children, 3 sons, all graduates of West Point and one daughter attending Illinois Wesleyan University.