In 1943, Colonel John Hartigan came to Dickinson as the commanding officer of the 32nd College Training Detachment (Air Crew), stationed there for training from March 1, 1943 to May 31, 1944.

After service as an aviator in the First World War, Hartigan became a member of several international committees, including the Saar Plebiscite Commission of the League of Nations.  He was a personal representative for President Herbert Hoover, and assisted with the preparation of the American Military Government for Upper Austria after VE Day. While in Europe, Hartigan observed a need for well-trained diplomats, and explored the possibility of Dickinson College establishing a foreign career school. In 1948, he finalized his "Dickinson Plan" for the establishment of such a school; though he pursued this idea with the College and with contacts he had made in Europe, this plan never came to fruition. 

After retiring from the Air Force, he went to live at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C.  John Hartigan died of a heart attack at the Washington Hospital Center on November 21, 1958.