HENRY J. KNOTT was a builder and outstanding developer whose companies constructed thousands of homes and businesses in Baltimore. A longtime hospital trustee, he was awarded an honorary degree in 1986. With his wife, MARION I. KNOTT, he made contributions to cultural institutions in the Baltimore region in excess of $300 million prior to his death in 1995. In a 1987 Baltimore Magazine profile, Mr. Knott discussed his motivations for giving away so much of his wealth: “It’s like catching fish,” he said. “You get up early. You fill the boat with fish, and then you give them away before they start to rot.”
Marion Knott pledged to endow a directorship and professorship in oncology at Johns Hopkins at the same time she created this chair and directorship of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine. She and her husband encouraged their 13 children to become active in civic life and philanthropy. (Henry and Marion Knott, seated, are pictured with their children.)