FILE - Phil Knight, right, Nike co-founder, and his wife, Penny Knight, center, take in the Oregon versus DePaul NCAA college basketball game during the Phil Knight Invitational tournament in Portland, Ore., Nov. 24, 2017.
Timothy J. Gonzelez / AP
Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny Knight, have committed $1 billion to the University of Oregon, with a plan to establish a new engineering college there.
University spokesperson Molly Blancett announced the gift in a press release early Wednesday morning. She said the Knight College of Engineering will be housed at UO’s Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact in Eugene. That campus was also possible thanks to major gifts from the Knights.
“The gift is the third commitment the Knights have made at this scale in 10 years, following $500 million in 2016 and $500 million in 2021 that created and expanded the Knight Campus,” Blancett said in a release Wednesday.
She said the new college will educate engineers and applied scientists in bioengineering and other high-demand disciplines. She said it would also attract faculty and researchers to the growing campus.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said the $1 billion gift “stands out for its extraordinary generosity and monumental impact at a public university.”
“As a proud University of Oregon alumnus, I know my alma mater will put this massive investment to great use by educating students who will meet the ongoing need for engineers so essential to the economy in our state and nationwide.”
The University of Oregon's Knight Campus and its connecting sky bridge over Franklin Boulevard in Eugene, Ore.
Bruce Damonte / UO
Just last week, the Knights announced a $1.1 billion gift to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and Providence Heart Institute. That gift is pledged over a 10-year period, with the first distribution of funds this year.
These recent, massive gifts further cement the Knights as Oregon’s leading philanthropists.
Last year, the couple pledged $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Research Institute.
They’ve also made major gifts to the 1803 Fund, an initiative investing in Oregon’s Black community and neighborhoods in Portland’s urban core.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Molly Blancett’s name. OPB regrets the error.
