 Colonel Patrick Sarsfield Madigan
1887-1944 |
Colonel Patrick S. Madigan, known as "The
Father of Army Neuropsychiatry" was assistant to the Surgeon General of the United
States Army from 1940 to 1943. He died in 1944 and in that year, on September 22, Madigan
General Hospital was named in his honor Colonel Madigan was born February 14, 1887, in
Washington, D.C. He was a member of a distinct medical and military family.
Two of his brothers were doctors in the United States Army. He married Mary
Shugrue, sister of Dr. John Shugrue, prominent brain surgeon of the Mayo Clinic, who had
served at Walter Reed General Hospital. His eldest son, Emmett P. Madigan, served as an
Army Medical Corps Officer throughout World War II.
In 1908, Colonel Madigan received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University
and his Doctor of Medicine degree four years later. He served as an instructor at
Georgetown University from 1913 to 1917. During this period he received a Master of Arts
degree from Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, in 1914. In August 1917 he accepted a
commission in the Regular Army and served in France with the 7th Division, 64th Infantry.
After the First World War he remained in the Army, serving as a neuropsychiatrist at
Hampton Roads, Virginia and Walter Reed General Hospital until 1926. He then became Chief
of Neuropsychiatry at Sternberg General Hospital, Philippines, and in 1929 Chief of
Neuropsychiatry at Walter Reed General Hospital.
In addition to his many degrees, Gonzaga University conferred the Honorary Degree of
Doctor of Laws on Colonel Madigan in recognition of his outstanding administrative work.
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