OHSU calls it the largest single private donation in higher ed in U.S. history.
The state’s wealthiest couple is doubling down on cancer research with a massive gift to Oregon Health & Science University.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, have pledged $2 billion to OHSU’s eponymous Knight Cancer Research Center, according to a statement released by the university earlier this month. The money will go to accelerate diagnostic capabilities, ensure access to innovative clinical trials and simplify the experience for patients and families.
“We couldn’t be more excited about the transformational potential of this work for humanity,” the Knights said in the statement.
Gov. Tina Kotek said the Knight’s donation will benefit people not just in Oregon but around the nation.
“This gift sends a signal to the world that Oregon is a place where amazing people make amazing things happen.”
With the funding, the Knight center will become self-governed within OHSU. A new entity, the Knight Cancer Group will lead cancer operations under a newly created board of directors. The inaugural president will be the Knight center’s director, Brian Druker.
Druker writes that with the new funding, the Knight center intends to continue to integrate scientific discovery with patient care. This will involve a broad array of medical support — psychological, genetic and financial counseling; symptom management; survivorship care and support.
“Penny and Phil Knight have always challenged us to do what no one else is doing,” Druker writes. “It can seem impossible to navigate the health care system after being diagnosed with cancer. We’re going to change that. We have revolutionized the way we detect and treat cancer. Now we are going to transform the way we care for patients while continuing to develop innovative treatments.”
OHSU named its cancer institute after the Knights in 2008 after it received a $100 million donation from them. In 2013, they pledged an additional $500 million if the university could match it within two years. It completed the feat with donations of $200 million from the Oregon Legislature, $100 million from Columbia Sportswear’s Gert Boyle and more than 10,000 individual donations.
The gift is a bright spot these days in Oregon’s beleaguered health care sector. This year, thousands of nurses and other staff at Providence stayed off the job for more than a month to protest pay and working conditions. Layoffs have affected Providence, OHSU and PeaceHealth.
The state’s wealthiest resident with a net worth of $35.4 billion, Knight is also among Oregon’s most generous residents and two of his favorite targets are his alma maters, the University of Oregon, where he ran track, and Stanford University, where he earned an MBA.
Knight, 87, stepped down as Nike CEO in 2004 and retired from the company’s board of directors in 2016.
The New York Times reported comparable large-scale donors include former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who in 2018 gave $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University to enroll low- and moderate-income students.
Click here to subscribe to Oregon Business.
