{"id":22850,"date":"2026-09-28T11:05:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T15:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=22850"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:05:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T15:05:39","slug":"nike-co-founder-phil-knight-gives-1-billion-to-university-of-oregon-in-historic-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2026\/09\/nike-co-founder-phil-knight-gives-1-billion-to-university-of-oregon-in-historic-gift.html","title":{"rendered":"Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight Gives $1 Billion to University of Oregon in Historic Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"
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IanDewarPhotography \/ stock.adobe.com | Inset: OSHU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, are giving $1 billion to the University of Oregon, marking what the school says is the largest gift ever made to a comprehensive public university.<\/p>\n

The historic donation will establish a new engineering school at the university in Eugene, with a focus on bioengineering and other high-demand fields. University officials say the school will educate future engineers and scientists while recruiting researchers and helping turn scientific discoveries into products, therapies and new technologies.<\/p>\n

Knight, 88, graduated from the University of Oregon in 1959 before co-founding Nike. The latest gift brings the Knight family’s known giving to the university to more than $2 billion, according<\/a> to The New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

University of Oregon President Karl Scholz said the Knights have “a long history of believing in things before they exist.”<\/p>\n

“They did it in 2016, and they are doing it again now, at a scale that is genuinely hard to take in,” Scholz said. “I am grateful to them, and I am grateful to be here for it.”<\/p>\n

The $1 billion commitment follows two previous $500 million gifts from the Knights in 2016 and 2021. Those donations created and expanded the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, where the new engineering school will be located.<\/p>\n

Knight said the gift reflects his belief in the role universities can play in creating opportunities for future generations.<\/p>\n

“To make an audacious dream a reality requires more than a vivid imagination,” he said. “It also requires the sort of opportunity that our great American universities, both public and private, have historically provided.”<\/p>\n

“This is no time to abandon them,” Knight added. “Penny and I are grateful for the chance to invest in our most promising young people’s future in this important way.”<\/p>\n

The massive donation is only the latest in a series of major philanthropic commitments from the Knights.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the couple committed<\/a> $1.1 billion to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and the Providence Heart Institute, including plans to create Oregon’s first hospital dedicated exclusively to women’s health. In 2025, Oregon Health & Science University announced a $2 billion commitment from the Knights to its cancer institute, aimed at expanding cancer research and care.<\/p>\n

Knight said at the time that he and his wife have long believed in supporting people willing to tackle difficult problems.<\/p>\n

“Penny and I have always believed that real breakthroughs come from people willing to take on the toughest challenges,” he said.<\/p>\n

With billions of dollars now committed to education, cancer research and health care, the Knights’ recent giving illustrates the potential impact of directing extraordinary wealth toward work that serves others and improves lives for generations to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, are giving $1 billion to the University of Oregon, marking what the school says is the largest gift ever made to a comprehensive public university. The historic donation will establish a new engineering school at the university in Eugene, with a focus on bioengineering and other high-demand…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":22853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nNike Co-Founder Phil Knight Gives $1 Billion to University of Oregon in Historic Gift<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nike co-founder Phil Knight and wife Penny donate $1 billion to the University of Oregon to establish a new engineering school.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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