Phil Knight, the cofounder of athleticwear giant Nike, and his wife, Penny Knight, have cemented their legacy as some of the most transformative philanthropists in modern American history through a historic new contribution to higher education. On Wednesday, the couple announced a staggering $1 billion donation to the University of Oregon to establish the brand-new Knight College of Engineering in Eugene, Oregon.
The newly funded academic institution will be situated within the existing Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, expanding the footprint and ambition of the university’s scientific and technological research capabilities. According to university officials, the massive contribution stands as the largest gift ever made to a comprehensive public university in the United States.
The substantial donation is earmarked for a multifaceted mission designed to reshape the academic and professional landscape of the Pacific Northwest. Per announcements from the University of Oregon, the newly created college will focus heavily on educating the next generation of engineers and applied scientists, with a particular emphasis on bioengineering and other high-demand technical disciplines. Furthermore, the funds will be deployed to attract elite faculty members and specialized researchers from around the globe, bolstering the institution’s intellectual capital.
Crucially, the university noted that the financial backing will dramatically accelerate its institutional ability to move vital scientific discoveries out of the laboratory setting and into the real world. This translation of academic research aims to foster practical products, advanced medical therapies, cutting-edge technologies, and scalable startup companies that can drive economic growth and societal benefit.
For Phil Knight, who graduated from the University of Oregon as a member of the Class of 1959, the latest billion-dollar commitment marks the continuation of a deep, decade-long pattern of extraordinarily generous support for his alma mater. This monumental gift represents the third major funding commitment made by the Knights to the university over a ten-year span. Previously, the couple donated $500 million in 2016 and another $500 million in 2021, investments that were instrumental in launching and expanding the initial phases of the Knight Campus.
University of Oregon President Karl Scholz expressed profound awe and gratitude regarding the unprecedented scale of the ongoing support from the university’s most prominent alumni benefactors.
“Phil and Penny Knight have a long history of believing in things before they exist,” President Scholz said following the announcement. “They did it in 2016, and they are doing it again now, at a scale that is genuinely hard to take in. I am grateful to them, and I am grateful to be here for it.”
While the University of Oregon has long been a primary beneficiary of their generosity, the Knights are widely recognized for a broader philanthropic footprint that heavily impacts their home region of Portland, Oregon, and surrounding communities. The historic pledge to the University of Oregon arrived on the heels of another monumental charitable announcement just one week prior, highlighting an extraordinarily active period for the couple’s foundation work.
In that prior announcement, the Knights committed $1.1 billion to the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and the Providence Heart Institute, located in Providence, Oregon. That substantial healthcare gift was designed to establish the state’s first comprehensive hospital dedicated entirely to women’s health, while simultaneously funding research and development to advance the next generation of cardiovascular treatment and patient care.
The healthcare and higher education contributions build upon an even larger wave of philanthropy executed by the couple in recent years. In August 2025, Phil and Penny Knight made global headlines by donating $2 billion to the Oregon Health & Science University. That historic financial injection was directed toward expanding the university’s Knight Cancer Institute, specifically enhancing its operational capacity to treat vulnerable patients and fund advanced oncology research. That particular donation was widely heralded at the time as the largest-ever single gift made to a university.
The 2025 medical donation followed a long trajectory of support for the institution, which included a $100 million gift in 2008 and a subsequent $500 million contribution in 2013. The cumulative weight of these massive contributions propelled the Knights to the pinnacle of American philanthropy, earning them the distinction of being named the top charitable donors of 2025 by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Beyond medical research and higher education, the Knights have also directed their substantial resources toward community development, racial equity, and urban revitalization efforts within their home state. In April 2023, the couple pledged $400 million to establish the 1803 Fund, an ambitious philanthropic initiative aimed at reviving a once-thriving Black neighborhood in Portland. The flagship initiative of the 1803 Fund is Rebuild Albina, a project focused on transforming current and future generations of the local community through targeted investments in education, historic preservation, cultural enrichment, and a sense of belonging in the greater Albina area.
Through these wide-ranging investments in scientific research, higher education, healthcare infrastructure, and community equity, Phil and Penny Knight continue to deploy their immense resources to shape the economic, social, and academic future of Oregon.
