Rogelio Figueroa García was born on the Municipal Hospital of Naguabo, Puerto Rico and raised near by in the community of Parcelas Aguas Claras in Ceiba.
He is the youngest of nine children of farmer Sotero Figueroa Pomales and housewife Juanita García Noble.
He attended the Rafael Rocca High School in that town, graduating in 1981.
In 1986 he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.
In 1988 he obtained his Masters in Chemical Engineering from Ohio State University.