Hugh Jackson Morgan graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1914. He was a prominent member of the Vanderbilt varsity football team and was selected as an All Southern Center. After attending two years at Vanderbilt Medical School, he transferred to Johns Hopkins University 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.

Following World War I, Morgan taught at both John Hopkins and the Rockefeller Institute before returning to Nashville to the appointment of Chair of the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt. Morgan once again entered military service, serving as a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army during World War II and 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. Morgan chaired the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt until 1958, and he passed away in 1961.