 Corrigan attained an A.B.from Brown University and later completed a A.M. (1959) and Ph.D. in American civilization (1967) from the University of Pennsylvania.Corrigan has been a provost at the University of Maryland, College Park and dean at the University of Missouri, in addition to holding faculty positions at the University of Iowa, Bryn Mawr, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.