Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, plan to donate $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University, the institution’s leaders announced Thursday.
OHSU officials say it’s one of the largest single donations given to a college in the country, exceeding the $1.8 billion given by Michael Bloomberg to Johns Hopkins in 2018.
The largesse comes a decade after Knight, who is Oregon’s wealthiest man, and his wife gave $500 million to OHSU on the condition that they match dollar-for-dollar in two years.
“Penny and Phil, there are no words that can adequately express our gratitude,” said Dr. Brian Druker at a gathering Thursday to announce the donation. “You remind us that we can never forget that this fight is personal.”
The gift will allow patients to receive comprehensive help, from early diagnosis and treatment to help with nutrition, insurance guidance, symptom management, and survivorship care.
Druker said with the magnitude of the gift, the Knight Cancer Institute would become a self-governed institution within OHSU, with its own board of governors. Druker, who stepped down earlier this year, said he had agreed to return as its “inaugural president.”
The money comes at a delicate time for OHSU. The Trump administration has moved to significantly limit funding given out by the National Institutes of Health and terminated hundreds of grants. Many higher education advocacy groups, as well as Oregon and other states, have sued to block those cuts from taking effect in a series of lawsuits. Two such cases have been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
