Nike cofounder and wife give $1bn to University of Oregon for engineering school

University of Oregon President Karl Scholz said in a statement to local Oregon outlet LookOut Eugene-Springfield on Wednesday morning that the Knights have "a long history of believing in things before they exist" and that "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."

Knight, 88, a university graduate, said in a statement that "to make an audacious dream a reality requires more than a vivid imagination." He said it also requires "the sort of opportunity that our great American universities, both public and private, have historically provided," adding, "This is no time to abandon them." He added that he and Penny were grateful for the chance to invest in young people's future in an important way. The New York Times reported that the latest donation brings the Knight family's known total giving to the University of Oregon to more than $2bn.

Scholz told the New York Times that "one of the most successful businesspeople in the history of humanity, and one of the most generous philanthropists in the history of humanity, has said higher education is worth an investment of this magnitude." He said, "At a time when we're all feeling a little bit under siege, this is tremendous news," and described the gift as "a screaming endorsement of the importance of what we're doing."

Bob Guldberg, a university vice-president and professor of bioengineering, also told the New York Times that the $1bn donation will allow the university to establish a full undergraduate program that could help address a shortage of engineers in the state. The University of Oregon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian about the donation.

The announcement follows other recent Knight philanthropy. Earlier this month, the Knights committed $1.1bn to Providence St Vincent Medical Center and Providence Heart Institute to create Oregon's first hospital dedicated exclusively to women's health. Knight said at the time that he and Penny have always believed "real breakthroughs come from people willing to take on the toughest challenges." He said Providence had shown that ambition in cardiovascular care, and that they saw the same opportunity for women's health. "We're proud to invest in teams that will change what's possible for communities across Oregon and beyond," he said. Last year, Oregon Health & Science University announced it had received a $2bn commitment from the Knights to its cancer institute, which the university said would "transform the future of cancer care and set a new standard globally."