Knights commit $1 billion to establish a college of engineering at the UO

Phil and Penny Knight have committed $1 billion—the largest gift ever given to a comprehensive public university—to the University of Oregon, with the intention to establish a college of engineering located at the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.

The new college would educate engineers and applied scientists in bioengineering and other high-demand disciplines, attract faculty and researchers to a growing campus and accelerate the university’s ability to move discoveries out of the laboratory and into products, therapies, technologies and companies.

The gift is the third commitment the Knights have made at this scale in 10 years, following $500 million in 2016 and $500 million in 2021 that created and expanded the Knight Campus. Those gifts drew further support from the state, industry partners, foundations and other donors. One example is the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, part of a $220 million global initiative, established at the Knight Campus in 2021.

“Phil and Penny Knight have a long history of believing in things before they exist,” University of Oregon President Karl Scholz said. “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."

Since 2016, the Knight Campus has established the University of Oregon’s first engineering department, graduated the first engineers in the university’s history and grown to 17 research laboratories engaging more than 500 students and trainees each year. Its graduate students have won National Science Foundation fellowships at roughly 40%, against a national average near 15%. Its master’s internship program holds graduation and placement rates above 90%.

The Knight Campus is also an engine for entrepreneurship. Through incubator laboratories in the Papé Family Innovation Center, partnerships with more than 200 companies and access to capital through Launch Oregon, it has supported more than a dozen student- and faculty-led startups, among them Penderia Technologies, VivoTex and restor3D.

“The creation of a College of Engineering builds on the original vision put forward by UO faculty who inspired Phil and Penny to invest in the idea that we can do better translating the great work we do out into the real world,” said Bob Guldberg, vice president and Robert and Leona DeArmond Executive Director of the Knight Campus. “The Knight Campus stands on the foundation of a remarkable Oregon legacy: the belief that bold innovation can unlock human potential. Today, we carry that same belief forward, applying it to science, technology, and human health.”

Employers across biotechnology, semiconductors, life sciences, advanced materials, manufacturing, sports performance and artificial intelligence consistently name engineering talent as one of their most critical needs. A 2026 report from the NSF and the Bureau of Labor Statistics said employment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics occupations is expected to grow at three times the rate of other occupations, with the fastest growth in science and engineering fields.

The state expects about 2,500 engineering job openings a year, and employers say those are among the hardest positions in Oregon to fill. Oregon is home to nearly a tenth of the country’s semiconductor workforce but trains fewer people for those jobs, relative to industry size, than any other major semiconductor state.

According to a recent economic impact report, the UO contributes an estimated $3.7 billion annually to the state’s economy. Of that, the Knight Campus accounted for more than $160 million in fiscal year 2024, before its second building opened.

This groundbreaking gift from Phil and Penny Knight stands out for its extraordinary generosity and monumental impact at a public university,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. said. “As a proud University of Oregon alumnus, I know my alma mater will put this massive investment to great use by educating students who will meet the ongoing need for engineers so essential to the economy in our state and nationwide.

The college is designed to reflect the university’s particular strengths rather than copy a more traditional model. Bioengineering is interdisciplinary by nature, joining engineering training with the basic sciences, data science and medicine. Knight engineering students train in communication, entrepreneurship and ethics alongside technical coursework, and innovation is written into faculty tenure and promotion criteria.

The university will work through appropriate state and shared governance processes to establish the college and its degree programs. The proposed college also advances Oregon Rising, the university’s strategic plan, by deepening differentiated research strengths, preparing students for high-demand careers and accelerating the benefits of research for the state.

The gift continues a relationship between the Knights and the University of Oregon that spans more than half a century. In the decades since graduating from the university and co-founding Nike, Phil and Penny Knight have become among the most consequential supporters of higher education in the country, and much of the modern university carries the evidence: the William W. Knight Law Center, the Knight Library, endowed professorships across multiple schools and colleges and the Knight Campus.

“Catalyzed by the vision and growth of the Knight Campus, the University of Oregon has become a global powerhouse for research and innovation,” said Clara Wu Tsai, owner of the New York Liberty and Brooklyn Nets and founder of the Human Performance Alliance. “What Penny and Phil have made possible is extraordinary. The impact of their gift will be felt for generations: by the students they inspire and the biotechnology breakthroughs that will advance human health for years to come.”