2023 Benefit for Stuyvesant - The Golden Pegleg Award
Henk Rogers ’72 is an internationally-renowned entrepreneur and video game developer, widely recognized for his contributions to the gaming industry and his advocacy for sustainable energy solutions.
Henk’s career in computer gaming began three decades ago when he revolutionized Japan’s video game industry and created “The Black Onyx,” Japan’s first role-playing game. However, he is best known as the man who turned a little-known game called Tetris into an international phenomenon. The story of his high-stake negotiations with the Soviet Union and Nintendo is the subject of new Apple TV+ blockbuster, “Tetris.”
A near-fatal heart attack in 2005 led Henk to discover his true missions in life and he has since dedicated his career to the research, development and implementation of renewable energy sources in his home state of Hawaii and around the world. Today, Henk is the founder of 10 companies and non-profit organizations focused on renewable energy, space exploration, and ending the use of fossil fuels on Earth.
His Blue Planet Foundation led efforts to pass the nation’s first 100% renewable energy law, mandating that the State of Hawaii achieve 100% renewable energy for electricity by 2045. His newest initiative the Blue Planet Alliance is expanding his foundation’s successful playbook around the world, helping island nations adapt to clean energy sources.
Rogers is also the founder of Blue Planet Energy, a global leader in renewable energy storage systems, and the International Moonbase Alliance, an organization with the goal to build sustainable settlements on the Moon and Mars.