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 distinguished 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.