Nike co-founder Knight, wife pledge $500 million to UO

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny have pledged $500 million to the University of Oregon toward a new scientific research facility.

The Register-Guard reports (https://is.gd/AKl7vr ) that the donation is the largest ever awarded to UO and is meant to launch a $1 billion, 10-year effort to build a three-building complex and add new graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to the university.

The Knight donation will be provided over 10 years and will go toward construction of the new facility and also to endowments to generate income for new faculty positions.

UO President Michael Schill says the $500 million pledge is the biggest ever to a U.S. public flagship university.

The $500 million pledge is the latest in a string of donations by the Knights to UO and other institutions.

The Knights previously made a $500 million challenge pledge to Oregon Health & Science University, which raised another $500 million to match it for the first large-scale effort dedicated to early detection of deadly cancers.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com