Cogan studied at Dartmouth College as an undergraduate from 1925 to 1928, and at Dartmouth Medical School from 1928 to 1930. He received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1929. He enrolled at
Harvard Medical School in 1930 and received his medical degree there in 1932. He spent a year at the
University of Chicago Clinics as an intern, then served a two-year residency at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. He spent 1937 in medical study in Switzerland, Germany and Holland on Harvard's Moseley Travelling Fellowship. His 1948 text
Neurology of the Ocular Muscles and his 1966 text
Neurology of the Visual System were major contributions to neuro-ophthalmology. Cogan was part of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission that reported on radiation-induced cataracts suffered by survivors of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Upon his death he was survived by his wife, Frances Capps Cogan (a medical doctor who did research on ophthalmology), two daughters, and four granddaughters. ==Awards and honors==