Early life and education

Hugh J. Morgan was born into a prominent Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 family from Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 in 1893, and graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1914. The Jackson family's ancestral home, Forks of Cypress, remains a landmark in Florence, Alabama

Florence, Alabama

Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....

. A scholar and athlete, he was a prominent member of the Vanderbilt varsity football team and was selected as an All Southern Center.

Academia

After two years at Vanderbilt Medical School, he transferred to Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 and received his doctorate in 1918. As a medical student, Dr. Morgan served in the prestigious Hopkins unit during World War I, and was stationed primarily in France. After the war, Dr. Morgan professed at both Hopkins and the Rockefeller Institute before returning home to Nashville in acceptance of an offered position as Chair of the Department of Medicine.

World War II

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Dr. Morgan entered the U.S. Army as a Brigadier General

Brigadier General

Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

, and moved for a short period to Washington, DC to work in the Pentagon

The Pentagon

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...

. He was appointed Chief Medical Consultant to the Surgeon General. This position allowed him to oversee and direct the operations of all military medical personnel throughout the war.

Legacy

A former colleague wrote of Dr. Morgan, "He was a charming man with firm convictions. He was courteous, gallant, and had a warm twinkling humor. He was delicately sensitive to and careful of the smallest human weaknesses and respected the well-grounded opinions of others." Dr. Hugh Morgan's contributions to Vanderbilt, The U.S. Army, and indeed the world, were many. Perhaps his greatest achievement at Vanderbilt alone was establishing an outstanding department of internal medicine. Dr. Morgan was also a devoted Freemason.

Physician and General Hugh J. Morgan died in his Nashville, Tennessee home in 1961 of cancer.