I received word earlier this summer that a dear friend of Wesleyan’s, Frank G. Binswanger Jr., had passed away. Frank graduated more than 70 years ago, but he remained keenly interested in alma mater. He was a trustee during the 1970s when two of his children were undergrads (along with me). Over the years, I would receive questions, advice and encouragement from Frank, and, with his wife Suzanne, we had occasion to raise a glass or two together to toast our beloved university. There have been more than ten Binswanger family members who’ve attended Wesleyan over the years.
Many at Wesleyan know the Binswanger name because of the teaching prize that Frank and his brother John ’54, P’83, GP’ 06, ’10, ’16 in honor of their father. Each year at Commencement we celebrate Wesleyan’s commitment to its scholar-teachers when members of the Alumni Association Executive Committee choose three faculty as recipients of the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Frank took real pride in having helped establish this tradition.
Teaching, learning, philanthropy — Binswanger traditions. May Frank’s memory be a blessing.