Patricia M. Carrigan was an elected member of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees from 1971 to 1979. She was the first woman to serve as chair of the board. In 1999, with a bequest of $1 million, she established the Pat Carrigan Endowed Chair in Feline Health. That led to the creation of the Center for Feline Health and Well-Being. In addition to endowing the chair, Carrigan made a bequest of her collection of cat art and memorabilia to the MSU Museum. The gift included a $25,000 endowment for the care and storage of the collection and for the creation of exhibits at various sites on campus. She also provided a gift to establish the Pat Carrigan Woodwind Scholarship Fund in the MSU College of Music.

Carrigan received a bachelor’s degree in education from MSU in 1950. She taught in Battle Creek and Willow Run public schools for several years before pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Michigan.

She died in 2013 at age 84.

[source: obituary on MSU Today]