He was the Chairman of the Urology Department and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University School of Medicine.

He began his career as a United States Navy officer while serving as the ship's surgeon aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp.

[10] This committee developed two highly specialized areas, one includes use of artificial kidneys and the other is based on tissue typing to match donors and recipients to reduce transplant rejection.

[10] This was on the heels of the passing of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, which Donohue identified as making it logistically easier to perform transplants.

[11] He authored numerous articles on testicular cancer and developed a radical surgery to treat it.