Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, have donated $1 billion to the University of Oregon, marking what is believed to be the largest known donation to a flagship public university. The funds will support the creation of a new engineering school in Eugene, Oregon. University of Oregon President Karl Scholz praised the Knights for their long-standing vision, noting that they “believe in things before they exist,” and highlighted the unprecedented scale of their latest contribution. Phil Knight, who graduated from the university in 1959 with a business degree, has now contributed over $2 billion to the institution, according to the New York Times. The new engineering school, named the Knight College of Engineering, will offer a full undergraduate program aimed at addressing a shortage of engineers in the state. Previously, the University of Oregon did not provide a traditional engineering degree. Bob Guldberg, a university vice president and bioengineering professor, emphasized the importance of this program in expanding the university’s academic offerings. The $1 billion donation is the largest in the university’s history and the largest ever given to a comprehensive public university, according to the school’s news release. The Knights have previously supported the university through multiple donations. In 2016, they gave $500 million to launch the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, which focuses on bioengineering, biomedical data science, and other research areas. A subsequent $500 million helped expand the campus, which now includes research labs, graduate programs, and departments focused on medical devices, synthetic biology, and biomedical artificial intelligence. The new engineering college will extend these efforts beyond bioengineering into broader engineering disciplines. The $1 billion gift will fund faculty, academic programs, and research, though specific details about the college’s degree offerings or timeline have not yet been released. Previous donations from the Knights have also enhanced the university’s science infrastructure, including a second Knight Campus building that opened in March, adding 185,000 square feet of research and teaching space. This latest contribution follows a week in which the Knights announced a $1.1 billion donation to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center to establish Oregon’s first hospital dedicated to women’s health and expand cardiac care services. Phil Knight emphasized the role of universities in turning ambitious ideas into reality and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to invest in the future of young people.