Interim Commissioner
Dakota Medical Foundation Executive Director J. Patrick "Pat" Traynor is serving as North Dakota Health and Human Services interim commissioner after being appointed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong on June 2, 2025.
Traynor became president of DMF in 2000, guiding a foundation team that has invested over $100 million in charities and initiatives to improve health and quality of life throughout the region. He also serves as an ex-officio member of DMF’s committees and board, and as executive director of the Impact Foundation, which provides training to help charities improve their fundraising and service capacity.
A native of Fargo, Traynor earned his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of North Dakota and his law degree from the UND School of Law in 1991. He began his career as an attorney with the Fargo law firm of Conmy, Feste, Bossart, Hubbard & Corwin.
Traynor has served on the boards of the North Dakota State Retirement and Investment Office, North Dakota Safety Council, Anne Carlsen Center and Gate City Bank, among others. His teams at the DMF and Impact foundations have launched and grown the highly successful Giving Hearts Day, which has helped hundreds of North Dakota and northwest Minnesota charities raise over $225 million since 2008.
Agency Phone: (701) 328-2310