Pat Carrigan spent her professional years as a school teacher, a clinical psychologist, and a manager and consultant in industry. She was the first woman plant manager for General Motors in the United States and the first woman elected to, and later to chair, the MSU Board of Trustees. Carrigan had a tremendous love and respect for cats from an early age. She was an MSU alumna with a passion for football, music, and cats. She became a noted collector of cat art and memorabilia. Her collection was willed to the MSU Museum and a portion of it is on exhibit at the College. She also wrote a series of children’s books that featured two stuffed cats as characters.

Carrigan was one of the first people to recognize MSU’s potential for advancing feline health and well-being. Her gift embodies her strong desire to help focus the College’s intellectual and technological resources into a cohesive unit dedicated to helping solve important health problems facing cats. She stated, “Public funds are rarely expended to help cats live longer and healthier lives. It’s up to us who care about the well-being of cats to see that there is a consistent, reliable source of funds to better their lives.”