Everett M. Rogers is widely known as the inventor of the “Diffusion of Innovation” theory from his research on how farmers adopt agricultural innovations. After pursuing a degree in agriculture, Rogers earned his PhD in Sociology and Statistics at Iowa State University (1957). His doctorate work stemmed from both his personal interest in understanding why farmers in Iowa, including his father, resisted using such new inventions in their fields as high-yielding hybrid seed corns, chemical fertilizers and weed sprays as well as how such new applications diffuse among farmers over time.
Rogers reviewed the existing studies on diffusion of innovations from educational, medical and marketing domains and found considerable similarities among these different disciplines. His book, Diffusion of Innovations (1962), gave him academic fame and still remains the second most cited book title in social sciences today.
