Madigan's Namesake
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. Madigan General Hospital was named in his honor after his death in 1944.
Colonel Madigan was born February 14, 1887 in Washington, D.C. He was a member of a distinct medical and military family in which two of his brothers were also doctors in the United States Army. He married Mary Shugrue, sister of Dr. John Shugrue, a prominent brain surgeon of the Mayo Clinic who had served at Walter Reed General Hospital. The family service to the country continued with his eldest son, Emmett P. Madigan, who served as an Army Medical Corps Officer throughout World War II.
Colonel Madigan received his Bachelor of Arts degree and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Georgetown University.He served as an instructor at Georgetown University from 1913 to 1917. During this period he received a Master of Arts degree from Gonzaga College, Washington, DC.In August of 1917 he accepted a commission in the Regular Army and served in France with the 7th Division, 64th Infantry during World War I.
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 College conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws on Colonel Madigan in recognition of his outstanding administrative work.
