Phil and Penny Knight pledge $1 billion to University of Oregon

Phil Knight and Penny Knight have committed $1 billion to the University of Oregon to establish the Knight College of Engineering. The gift is intended to house the new college at the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact in Eugene.

This contribution marks the third major commitment from the Knights toward the Knight Campus, bringing their total donations to the campus to $2 billion. The funding will allow the university to expand its undergraduate engineering programs, addressing a regional shortage of engineers by focusing on high-demand disciplines such as bioengineering.

According to Robert Guldberg, vice president of UO and executive director of the Knight Campus, the investment is expected to more than double the number of faculty and students at the campus. This development comes as the University of Oregon manages a $65 million budget shortfall and faces potential labor strikes from classified employees at Oregon’s public universities.