Alfred Keogh

Sir Alfred Henry Keogh (1857–1936) (GCB, GCVO, CH, LLD) was a medical doctor in the British Army.

Born in Dublin on 3 July 1857, the son of Henry Keogh, barrister and magistrate of Roscommon. He was educated at Queen's College, Galway, and Guy's Hospital, London. Received his M.D. from the Queen's University of Ireland in 1878. He went on to excel academically at the Army Medical College, Netley, gaining the Herbert prize and the Martin memorial medal.

He joined the army as a surgeon in 1880. In March 1892, he was appointed Surgeon Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), and achieved the position of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1900. Following the Boer War Sir Alfred Keogh carried through the changes which turned the RAMC into a proper medical service and encouraged research against typhoid by setting up a proper school of Army Hygiene at Mytchett near Aldershot. Keogh also helped create the Territorial Force which would be the forerunner of the Territorial Army.

He was made Director General of the Army Medical Service in 1904. He was reappointed to this position at the outbreak of World War I. Under the scheme devised by Keogh, public buildings were earmarked for use during times of war; this far sighted policy proved crucial in WWI.

He was appointed Rector of Imperial College London and served from 1910–1922, a position in which he was accessible and aimiable to students.

An original portrait of Sir Alfred Keogh by Arthur Hacker RA hangs in the RAMC HQ Mess at Millbank London.

Source
Mark Harrison, "Keogh, Sir Alfred (1857-1936)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University