Hogan was born in Philadelphia, constructed his first amateur wireless station in 1902, began his career in 1906 as a laboratory assistant to Lee de Forest, and in 1907 participated in the first public demonstration of the audion tube (triode).

From 1908 to 1910 he attended Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University, leaving without a degree to join Reginald Fessenden's National Electric Signaling Co. (NESCO) at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, where he served as a telegraph operator.

In 1913 led acceptance tests of the U.S. Navy's first high powered station at Arlington, and from 1914 to 1917 was chief research engineer, working primarily on high-speed recorders for long-distance wireless.

During World War II, Hogan served as special assistant to Vannevar Bush at the Office of Scientific Research and Development, working on radar, missiles, and the proximity fuze.

[2] Throughout his life Hogan was active in professional societies, and in 1912 was instrumental in the formation of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), serving as its president in 1920 and on its board of directors from 1912 to 1936 and 1948 to 1950.