Nike’s co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny have committed to donate a record $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)’s Knight Cancer Institute, the school has announced. The donation will allow the Knight Cancer Institute to transition to a self-governed unit within OHSU, with its own Board of Directors. The gift will be overseen by Dr. Brian Druker, the well-known cancer researcher at the head of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, who will serve as the Board’s inaugural president.
The Knights had previously pledged a $500 million donation to the Knight Cancer Institute in 2013 as part of a Knight Cancer Challenge that required OHSU to match the gift within two years. The ensuing Knight Cancer Challenge was successful.
Phil Knight is a 1959 graduate of the University of Oregon, where he was part of the track and field team under coach Bill Bowerman. In 1962, he earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 1964, he partnered with Bowerman to create Blue Ribbon Sports, the company that would later become Nike. Knight retired as Nike’s Chairman in 2016.
