MK Pritzker | |
|---|---|
 Pritzker in 2019 | |
| First Lady of Illinois | |
| Assumed role January 14, 2019 | |
| Governor | JB Pritzker |
| Preceded by | Diana Rauner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mary Kathryn Muenster 1967 Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | JB Pritzker |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Ted Muenster (father) Karen Nelsen (mother) |
| Education | University of Nebraska–Lincoln (BA) School of the Art Institute of Chicago |
| Occupation | philanthropist, farmer, landowner |
| Website | Official Website |
Mary Kathryn "MK" Pritzker (née Muenster; born 1967) is an American civic leader and philanthropist. As the wife of Governor JB Pritzker, she has served as the First Lady of Illinois since 2019. In 2023, she authored a book about the Illinois Governor's Mansion titled A House That Made History: The Illinois Governors Mansion, Legacy of an Architectural Treasure. Priztker is the former director of the Pritzker Family Foundation and is the founder of the Evergreen Invitational equestrian competition.
Early life, family, and education
[edit]Pritzker was born Mary Kathryn Muenster in 1967 in Lincoln, Nebraska to Theodore Muenster Jr. and Karen Muenster.[1][2] She grew up in a politically active family in Nebraska and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.[1] Her father was the Democratic nominee in the 1990 senatorial race in South Dakota and served as chief of staff to Democratic South Dakota Governor Richard Kneip.[3][4] Her mother served in the South Dakota Senate from 1985 to 1992.[1] Pritzker's paternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Albin Goble, was the sheriff and county supervisor of Gage County, Nebraska.[3] Pritzker's father grew up on a farm in Beatrice, Nebraska that had been given as a land grant to their family during the American Civil War.[1] Her grandmother, Marcelene Meunster, taught her how to sew, crochet, bake, bookkeep, and take care of animals on the farm.[1]
She graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a bachelor of arts degree and attended graduate school at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied historic preservation.[5][6]
Career
[edit]Philanthropy
[edit]Pritzker served as director of the Pritzker Family Foundation for over a decade, supporting the Pritzker Consortium, the First Five Years Fund, the Ounce of Prevention Fund, Erie Family Health, and Lawndale Christian Health.[5] She was involved in building a scholarship and grant plan for Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University focused on social justice, civil and human rights, and entrepreneurship initiatives.[5]
She founded Evergreen Invitational, a nonprofit sanctioned equestrian show jumping competition that raised over $6 million for women's healthcare initiatives at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.[5]
Politics and public life
[edit]Pritzker worked in Washington, D.C. as a staffer for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and for U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey.[7]
She is a member of the White House Preservation Committee.[2]
On January 14, 2019, she became the first lady of Illinois upon her husband's inauguration as governor.[2] As first lady, she focused on expanding access to reproductive healthcare, developing restorative criminal justice for incarcerated women, supported LGBTQ+ initiatives, and promoted the visual and performing arts.[2] During the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois, she revived the state's poet laureate and arts program, visited state prisons to interview incarcerated women, and co-chaired the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund.[1][2] In 2023, Pritzker curated a collection of Illinois art and historic furniture to furnish the Illinois Governor's Mansion.[1][8] She oversaw the mansion's renovations with the help of designer Michael S. Smith, with whom she published a book through Rizzoli detailing the home's history, architecture and design titled A House That Made History: The Illinois Governors Mansion, Legacy of an Architectural Treasure.[9] Proceeds from the book went to maintain the upkeep of the mansion.[6] She reframed photographs of forty former Illinois first ladies that she discovered in the mansion's attic and hung them in the mansion's galleries.[1] Pritzker also archived recipes from the cookbooks of former first ladies and other Illinois political hostesses, including Mary Todd Lincoln's almond cake, which she now has served at mansion dinners.[1]
Personal life
[edit]In 1993, she married Jay Robert Pritzker, whom she had met in Washington, D.C. when she worked as an aide to U.S. Senator Tom Daschle.[10] Her husband, a billionaire businessman and Democratic politician, is a member of the Pritzker family that owns Hyatt Hotels.[1] She and her husband live in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood with their two children.[11][12] They also reside in the Illinois Governor's Mansion in Springfield since her husband's election as governor in 2019.[1][13] She converted from Protestantism to Judaism, the faith of her husband.[14][15]
Pritzker owns her family farm in Nebraska and another farm in Wisconsin.[1] She has a herd of six miniature cows, given to her by her husband, named Huey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Crouton, Peaches, Blondie, and Alice.[1] She is an avid equestrian.[1]
Pritzker is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sneed, Michael (January 6, 2023). "First lady M.K. Pritzker on husband Gov. J.B. Pritzker, interviewing incarcerated women, family". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "MK Pritzker". Illinois Governor's Mansion. Office of the Governor of Illinois. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ a b "Ted Muenster". Nebraska Alumni Association Quarterly Magazine. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ Lias, David (May 16, 2009). "New USD Student Center Officially Dedicated". Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "MK Pritzker". National Governors Association. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ a b Sneed, Michael (September 8, 2023). "Illinois governor's mansion haunted by history, hijinks, heirlooms and art — but no ghosts". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ Lee, Jamie (July 22, 2025). "JB Pritzker and His Wife Came From Very Different Worlds". Distractify. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "Pritzker spends $850K of his money to fix Governor's Mansion". 2019-10-06. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
- ^ Taylor, Elise (2023-10-06). "From Mary Todd Lincoln's China to New Work by Theaster Gates: Inside the Artful Redecoration of the Illinois Governor's Mansion". Vogue. Condé Nast.
- ^ Kogan, Rick (May 24, 1998). "The Long Run – After His First Date With Politics, J.b. Pritzker Is Ready To Make A Commitment". Chicago Tribune. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
- ^ "The World's Billionaires – Jay Robert (J.B.) Pritzker". Forbes. June 3, 2019. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
- ^ Ahern, Mary Ann (March 1, 2018). "How Many Homes Do the Candidates for Illinois Governor Own?". NBC Chicago. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- ^ "Gov. Pritzker, first lady dress up as Shrek, Fiona for Halloween: 'What are you doing in my swamp?'". ABC7 Chicago. Chicago, Illinois. October 27, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ Herguth, Robert (March 8, 2018). "J.B. Pritzker: At times, 'your faith has to overcome maybe logic'". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
- ^ Smith, Bryan (February 19, 2014). "J.B. Pritzker: The Other Mayor of Chicago". Chicago Magazine. Chicago, Illinois: Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ VanBuren, Denise Doring (June 13, 2022). "Last-ing Memories from the Land of Lincoln". Daughters of the American Revolution. Washington, D.C.: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Retrieved August 1, 2025.