Longtime board and family member shaped McKnight’s programs and benefited countless lives through her service and caring spirit
The McKnight Foundation is deeply grateful for the remarkable life of Patricia S. Binger (Pat), whose contributions as both a board member and family member have made an indelible impact on our work and the people it has served. She will be dearly missed.
Pat’s journey with McKnight began in 1987 when she joined the board of directors, alongside her husband, James (Mac) Binger, who was a board member from 1973-2007, and grandson of the Foundation’s founder William L. and Maude L. McKnight. Pat’s deep respect for the family legacy, combined with her own insight and compassion, shaped McKnight’s work, particularly in areas like neuroscience, food security, and community development. She served on the McKnight board until 2013.
One of Pat’s earliest and most enduring contributions was through her support of the Fonds de dotation McKnight pour les neurosciences. Building on the curiosity of William McKnight, Pat played a pivotal role in ensuring the fund’s support of groundbreaking research into memory loss and brain disorders. She served on the Endowment Fund board from 2005 until 2013.
Together with her husband, she was also instrumental in the development of McKnight’s international program, which grew from a focused effort to address hunger and food security into the Collaboration mondiale pour des systèmes alimentaires résilients program, formerly called the Collaborative Crop Research Program. Their belief that local farmers and communities must be part of the solution to global challenges was a guiding principle that continues to shape McKnight’s work in agricultural research and sustainable development.
In her more than 25 years on the board, Pat was a champion of families, both across our society as well as within the Foundation. She was passionate about preserving and sharing McKnight’s history, and she shared her own life story in a 2018 book she wrote called Rancher’s Wife: From Minneapolis to Montana. As a mentor, a philanthropist, and a family member, Pat has shown us the value of humility, servant-leadership, and compassion. As a tribute to her warm and welcoming nature, we have named the welcome center in our new McKnight offices at 921 South Washington Street in her honor.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Pat for her decades of service and contributions to the McKnight Foundation, and our deep condolences to her family. Her legacy will continue to live on through the McKnight, Binger, and Staryk families, and the many families and lives she touched in her lifetime.
