The Oregon Track Club (OTC) is an American running organization based in Eugene, Oregon .
81-695: Formed by Bill Bowerman , the Emerald Empire Athletic Association (EEAA) was the predecessor to the Oregon Track Club. In 1948, Bill Bowerman became the assistant track coach at the University of Oregon , in Eugene, Oregon. In order to spur interest in running with the local community, Bowerman formed an all comers meet for grade-schoolers in 1949. The next year the meet was expanded to include high school and college athletes. The low turnout of
162-607: A Certified Public Accountant , first with Coopers & Lybrand , and then Price Waterhouse . Knight then became an accounting professor at Portland State University . Immediately after graduating from the University of Oregon, Knight enlisted in the Army and served one year on active duty and seven years in the Army Reserve . He next enrolled at Stanford Graduate School of Business , where, for his small business class, Knight produced
243-656: A US$ 30 million commitment toward the Autzen Stadium expansion project and offered no further donations to the university. In a public statement, Knight criticized the WRC for having unrealistic provisions and called it misguided, while praising the FLA for being "balanced" in its approach. In the face of ongoing conflict with students, Frohnmayer sided with Knight's assertion that the WRC was providing unbalanced representation, and in October 2000
324-520: A close relationship with many of the athletes in the OTC. Throughout the years, Nike has contributed strongly to the OTC by supplying equipment and sponsoring competitions for athletes to compete against other track clubs across the nation. This relationship has greatly increased with the re-establishment of the OTC Elite. Bill Bowerman William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999)
405-442: A cofounder of Nike. Davis states ‘I didn't like the way they felt on my feet. There was no support and they were too tight. But I saw Bowerman make them from the waffle iron , and they were mine." In 1964, Bowerman entered into a handshake agreement with Phil Knight , who had been a miler under him in the 1950s, to start an athletic footwear distribution company called Blue Ribbon Sports, later known as Nike, Inc. Knight managed
486-532: A games room for the players that includes flat-screen televisions and foosball machines, and a cafeteria. In November 2015, it was announced that Knight and his wife would be donating $ 19.2 million towards a new sports complex project at the University of Oregon. The plans for the 29,000 square foot complex was announced in September. Construction started in January 2016 and ended in September 2016. The sports complex
567-463: A heart attack 150 feet (46 m) underwater due to an undetected congenital heart defect. Knight and Travis traveled to El Salvador to return Matthew's body to the US. Laika Studio's 2005 short film Moongirl was dedicated to Matthew's memory. Knight resigned as Nike CEO on November 18, 2004, several months after Matthew's funeral but retained the position of chairman of the board. Knight's replacement
648-474: A lawyer turned newspaper publisher, and his wife, Lota Cloy (née Hatfield) Knight. He grew up in the Portland neighborhood of Eastmoreland , and attended Cleveland High School . According to one source, "When his father refused to give him a summer job at his newspaper [the now defunct Oregon Journal ], believing that his son should find work on his own," Knight "went to the rival Oregonian , where he worked
729-425: A new division for these masters athletes . Due to the popularity of Jogging , Harris and Bowerman published a 127-page book in 1967. Athletics West is an American running team formed by Bill Bowerman, Phil Knight and Geoff Hollister in 1977. At the time, America had no definitive running program for young athletes to continue competing outside of college. The formation and success of Athletics West, together with
810-510: A notional Mount Rushmore for the university. Knight was one of the four final choices, along with Ducks track legend Steve Prefontaine ; current NFL player Marcus Mariota , the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner; and Sabrina Ionescu , who had just completed an epic college basketball career for the Ducks . Knight met his wife, Penelope "Penny" Parks, while he was working at Portland State University and they were married on September 13, 1968. They own
891-608: A one-mile (1.6 km) span. Knight once said of Bowerman's importance to the company, "If coach (Bowerman) isn't happy, Nike isn't happy." Bowerman reduced his role with the company in the late 1970s and began passing down his stake in the company to other employees shortly before the IPO launched. Bowerman is a member of the National Distance Running Hall of Fame , the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame ,
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#1733106525173972-457: A paper, "Can Japanese Sports Shoes Do to German Sports Shoes What Japanese Cameras Did to German Cameras?", that essentially foretold his eventual foray into selling running shoes. His ambition was to import high-quality and low-cost running shoes from Japan into the American market. He graduated with a master's degree in business administration from Stanford in 1962. Knight set out on a trip around
1053-576: A partner with Knight and provide product design ideas. The two men agreed to a partnership by handshake on January 25, 1964, the birth date of Blue Ribbon Sports , the company that would later become Nike. Knight's first sales, were made out of a now storied green Plymouth Valiant automobile at track meets across the Pacific Northwest . By 1969, these early sales allowed Knight to leave his accountant job and work full-time for Blue Ribbon Sports. Jeff Johnson, Nike's first employee, suggested calling
1134-660: A state title in 1940. Bowerman married Barbara Young on June 22, 1936. Their first son, Jon, was born June 22, 1938. William J. Bowerman, Jr. ("Jay") was born November 17, 1942. Their third son, Tom, was born May 20, 1946. Bowerman had been in the ROTC and Army Reserve , and then joined the United States Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in the days following the Pearl Harbor attack . He was assigned to Fort Lawton in Washington and served
1215-533: A successful NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Bowerman disliked being called a coach; he saw himself as more of a teacher. He expected his squad to excel in the classroom, and urged his charges to apply the lessons they learned on the track to everyday life. In 1972, Bowerman stepped back from day-to-day coaching activities to conduct fundraising for renovating
1296-459: A three-page guide, was published shortly after Bowerman returned from New Zealand. In 1966, along with cardiologist W.E. Harris, Bowerman published a 90-page book titled Jogging . The book sold over a million copies and was credited with igniting the jogging phenomenon in the United States. The new crop of older athletic people contributed to the evolution of the sport of track and field to create
1377-547: A time there were three groups of athletes who wore the OTC Elite uniform, one coached by Alberto Salazar and one coached by Jerry Schumacher . Alberto Salazar went on to coach the Nike Oregon Project until he was suspended and then banned for life, while Jerry Schumacher went on to coach Nike's Bowerman Track Club . The team has had great success, culminating at the 2011 IAAF World Championships with High Jumper Jesse Williams winning Gold, Ashton Eaton winning Silver in
1458-442: A training program for adjusting athletes for the high altitude that they would experience at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. This successful program led to his selection as the 1972 Munich Olympic track and field head coaching position, even though American miler favorite Jim Ryun lost to Kenyan Kip Keino , citing altitude as part of the reason for this upset. Bowerman coached members of teams from Norway, Canada, Australia, and
1539-455: A trip to New Zealand in 1962, Bowerman was introduced to the concept of running as a fitness routine, including people of an advanced age, through a running club organized by his friend and coaching colleague Arthur Lydiard . Bowerman brought this concept back to the United States, and began to write articles and books about running. He also created a running program in Eugene that became a national model for fitness programs. A Jogger's Manual ,
1620-650: A year there before being assigned to the 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment at Camp Hale in Leadville, Colorado . He was in the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment , the regiment became a part of the 10th Mountain Division . Bowerman's duty entailed organizing the troops' supplies and maintaining the mules used to carry the supplies in the mountains. On December 23, 1944, the division arrived in Naples, Italy and soon moved north to
1701-422: Is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist who is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc. , a global sports equipment and apparel company. He was previously its chairman and CEO. As of December 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth at $ 45.0 billion. He is also the owner of the stop motion film production company Laika . Knight is a graduate of the University of Oregon and
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#17331065251731782-583: Is given to the most outstanding collegiate male and female track & field athlete in a given calendar year. Inaugural winners of the award were Oregon's Galen Rupp and Colorado's Jenny Barringer . The Bowerman trophy was designed by Tinker Hatfield , a Nike employee and former Oregon student-athlete coached by Bowerman. In declining health in late 1999, Bowerman died at age 88 at his home at an assisted care facility in Fossil, Oregon . Phil Knight Philip Hampson Knight (born February 24, 1938)
1863-457: The Eugene Weekly reported Frohnmayer stating that: ... he would refuse to pay dues to the WRC based on a legal opinion from UO General Counsel Melinda Grier arguing that to do so would be illegal and open the university to liability. Grier claimed the WRC had not yet incorporated, had not yet filed as a non-profit, and served no public purpose justifying a dues payment. On February 16, 2001,
1944-528: The Knight-Hennessy Scholars graduate-level education program inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship . Graduates are charged to tackle global challenges, such as climate change and poverty . The first class of 51 scholars from 21 countries was scheduled to arrive at Stanford in the fall of 2018. In May 2022, it was announced that Phil and Penny Knight gifted Stanford $ 75 million to establish
2025-517: The Oregon University System enacted a mandate that all institutions within the system choose business partners from a politically neutral standpoint, barring all universities in Oregon from joining either the WRC or the FLA. Following the dissolved relationship between the university and the WRC, Knight reinstated the donation and increased the amount to over US$ 50 million. Also controversial
2106-514: The San Diego –based Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, and grew the business into a nationwide organization, with written premiums of nearly US$ 1 billion when he sold the company in 2006. In October 2008, Knight and his wife pledged US$ 100 million to the OHSU Cancer Institute, the largest gift in the history of Oregon Health & Science University . In recognition, the university renamed
2187-586: The Stanford Graduate School of Business . He was part of the track and field club under coach Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon with whom he would later co-found Nike. Knight has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to each of his alma maters , as well as Oregon Health & Science University . He has donated over $ 2 billion to these three institutions. Phil Hampson Knight was born on February 24, 1938, in Portland, Oregon , to Bill Knight ,
2268-485: The Decathlon, and Sally Kipyego winning Silver in the 10,000 meters. The masters and submasters division of the OTC is a subgroup of the OTC designed for older members to stay competitive. The masters and submasters divisions have age restrictions to provide fair competition between athletes: 40 years old and older for the masters division and 30 to 39 years old for the submasters division. The OTC's masters division hosts
2349-613: The Hayward Classic, which is one of the more popular masters track meets in the country. In 2019, the club added a youth cross-country program. This club is designed to fuel kids' excitement and love for running by giving them the opportunity to participate in this historic club and be a part of Eugene's worldwide fame as TrackTown USA. A particularly unique aspect of the program is that the youth athletes receive encouragement and coaching from OTC elite runners, Olympians, and other local celebrities. The following athletes compete as part of
2430-542: The Hayward Field grandstands that would be necessary for the consideration of hosting the U.S. Olympic Trials again in 1976 . He also ran unsuccessfully for a House seat in the Oregon Legislature in 1970 as a Republican , losing by only 815 votes out of 61,000 cast. Bowerman officially retired as head coach on March 23, 1973, and assistant coach Bill Dellinger was immediately promoted. Bowerman created
2511-537: The OTC Elite in Eugene: The following athletes formerly competed in the past for the Oregon Track Club: The OTC has had a long-standing close relationship with Nike, Inc. over the years. This relationship is due mostly to the fact that one of Nike's founders was OTC founder Bill Bowerman. It is also because Nike's main founder Phil Knight was a middle-distance runner for the University of Oregon and had
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2592-518: The OTC have helped increase popularity in Track and Field in the United States. They also helped design Hayward Field and hosted major meets such as the 2008 US Olympic Trials. OTC Elite is the professional branch of the OTC and is based in Eugene, Oregon. The current format of the club was created in 2006, and originally coached by Frank Gagliano. In 2008 Mark Rowland became the Head Coach of OTC. For
2673-696: The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, Oregon's Athletic Hall of Fame, the RRCA Distance Running Hall of Fame , and the National Inventors Hall of Fame . His statue and stopwatch grace the northwest corner of Hayward Field , home of the Prefontaine Classic at the University of Oregon . A biographical film , Without Limits , about the relationship between record-breaking distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his coach Bill Bowerman
2754-458: The Oregon Track Club. The most notable of these athletes are Steve Prefontaine , who placed fourth in the 1972 Summer Olympics in the men's 5000 meters race, and Mac Wilkins , who received the gold medal in the discus throw at the 1976 Summer Olympics . During the '70s, the OTC sent dozens of athletes to the Olympics and won several medals. The Oregon Track Club is made up of three branches:
2835-528: The Oregon Track Club. This was in part due to the leadership's desire to concentrate mainly on track and field. Beginning in the late 1960s, the OTC started to become a dominant force in American Track and Field. Due to the relationship between the University of Oregon and the Oregon Track Club (both in Eugene, same coaches), many athletes from the University of Oregon's strong cross country and track and field programs decided to remain in Eugene to compete with
2916-582: The Phil and Penny Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience. The initiative will be housed at Stanford's Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and is set to study the cognitive decline and degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. As of 2023, Knight has donated over one billion dollars to the University of Oregon. It is believed that Knight made his first major contribution in the late 1980s. By 2000 Knight had already contributed over $ 50 million to UO. He
2997-516: The State of Oregon. Knight was responsible for financing the UO's US$ 68 million 145,000 square-foot gridiron football facility that was officially opened in late July 2013. Knight's personal locker in the team's locker room displays the title "Uncle Phil", and other features include a gym with Brazilian hardwood floors, Apple iPhone chargers in each of the players' lockers, various auditoriums and meeting rooms,
3078-734: The United States. During the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics in West Germany , where Bowerman was frequently blamed for a dismal performance by the U.S. track team , Israeli race walker Shaul Ladany escaped the PLO terrorists, and then awakened Bowerman and alerted the West German police. Bowerman called the U.S. consulate for a detachment of Marines to protect the U.S. Olympic compound, in which lived two high-profile Jewish athletes: swimmer Mark Spitz and javelin thrower Bill Schmidt . During
3159-524: The all comers meet caused Bowerman to want to increase his efforts in promoting track and field in Eugene. In 1958, with the help of Ray Hendrickson and Bob Newland, Bowerman established the Emerald Empire Athletic Association. Ralph Christensen became the first president of the EEAA, and along with the other leaders established the goals for the EEAA: In 1965 the Emerald Empire Athletic Association changed its name to
3240-494: The athletic department at UO have also led to controversy. In April 2000, student leaders began organizing an anti-sweatshop and fair labor practices campaign, and called for Dave Frohnmayer, president of the school, to support the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC). On April 4, 2000, students began a sit-in at Johnson Hall, the UO's administrative center. In early April, an open meeting of students further demanded that
3321-484: The autonomy of schools in the Oregon University System . On September 27, 2013, Knight announced to the audience at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute's biennial gala, when he announced his intention to donate US$ 500 million for research if OHSU could match it over the subsequent two years. On June 25, 2015, OHSU met that $ 500 million goal, and Knight announced his upcoming $ 500 million donation, to bring
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3402-518: The building of the Nike brand, from importing Japanese shoes to being part of a federal investigation. As of July 2021, Knight has a net worth of $ 60.8 billion. In 1990, Knight founded the Philip H. Knight Charitable Foundation Trust. As of 2016, according to Portland Business Journal , "Knight is the most generous philanthropist in Oregon history. His lifetime gifts now approach $ 2 billion." In 2023, Knight
3483-540: The business end of the partnership, while Bowerman experimented with improvements in athletic footwear design. Bowerman stayed in Eugene, keeping his coaching job at the University of Oregon, while Knight operated the main office from Portland. Bowerman and Knight initially began importing the Onitsuka Tiger running shoes from Japan to sell in the United States. Initially, the partnership was 50-50, but shortly afterwards Bowerman wanted it changed to 51–49, with Knight having
3564-423: The company's board with the cooperation of Nike executives. In late 2003, Knight appointed his son to the board and, after Vinton had stepped down—prior to leaving the company with a severance package—Knight rebranded the company Laika . He then invested $ 180 million into Laika, and the studio released its first feature film, Coraline , in stop motion , in 2009. Coraline was a financial success and Travis Knight
3645-653: The company's chairman, with president and CEO Mark Parker to succeed him. Knight's retirement from the Nike board took effect at the end of June 2016. In September 2017, Knight decided to come out of retirement to put black back in the UNC jerseys for the Phil Knight Classic in Portland, Oregon. Knight's memoir, Shoe Dog , was released on April 26, 2016, by Simon & Schuster , was rated fifth on The New York Times Best Seller list for business books in July 2018, and details
3726-455: The dual level, the Ducks posted a 114–20 record and went undefeated in 10 seasons. In addition, Bowerman coached the world record setting 4-mile (6.4 km) relay team in 1962. This team consisted of Archie San Romani, Dyrol Burleson , Vic Reeve, and Keith Forman with a time of 16:08.9. Six years later, an Oregon Track Club team of Roscoe Divine, Wade Bell , Arne Kvalheim and Dave Wilborn improved
3807-472: The firm "Nike," named after the Greek winged goddess of victory , and Blue Ribbon Sports was subsequently renamed Nike in 1971. Nike's " swoosh " logo, now considered one of the most valuable logos in the world, was commissioned for $ 35 from graphic design student Carolyn Davidson in 1971. According to Nike's website, Knight said at the time: "I don't love it, but it will grow on me." In September 1983, Davidson
3888-400: The general club, the elite club, and the masters club. The general part of the OTC is the largest subgroup in the OTC. It is made up of athletes under the age of 30 who pursue running for enjoyment. Many of these runners had no or little NCAA running experience, but are still running every day and competing in organized meets because of the passion they exhibit for the sport. These members of
3969-465: The higher ownership. He did this to avoid potential gridlock and have one of them be in charge of final decisions. Bowerman's design ideas led to the creation of a running shoe in 1966 that was ultimately named " Nike Cortez " in 1968, which quickly became a top-seller and remains one of Nike's most iconic footwear designs. Bowerman designed several Nike shoes, but is best known for ruining his wife's Belgian waffle iron in 1970 or 1971, experimenting with
4050-493: The idea of using waffle-ironed rubber to create a new sole for footwear that would grip but be lightweight. Bowerman's design inspiration led to the introduction of the so-called "Moon Shoe" in 1972, so named because the waffle tread was said to resemble the footprints left by astronauts on the Moon. Further refinement resulted in the "Waffle Trainer" in 1974, which helped fuel the explosive growth of Blue Ribbon Sports/Nike. While Bowerman
4131-414: The late 1990s, Will Vinton Studios animation company sought external investors due to rapid growth. Knight assumed a 15 percent stake in the company in 1998, and his son Travis —who had graduated from Portland State following an unsuccessful attempt at a rap music career—went to work at the studio as an animator. Citing mismanagement, Knight eventually purchased Will Vinton Studios and assumed control of
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#17331065251734212-583: The morning shift tabulating sports scores and every morning ran home the full seven miles." Knight continued his education at the University of Oregon in Eugene , where he ran for the famed Oregon track and field program, was a sports reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Knight earned a business degree (B.B.A.) in 1959 in just three years. That same year, Knight also received his Army Reserve Commission and
4293-593: The mountains of northern Italy. During his overseas service, Bowerman was promoted to commander of the 86th Regiment's First Battalion at the rank of Major . Bowerman negotiated a stand-down of German forces near the Brenner Pass in the days before the surrender of the German army in all of Italy. For his service, Bowerman received the Silver Star and four Bronze Stars . He was honorably discharged in October 1945. After
4374-409: The organization Fair Labor Association (FLA) would receive no consideration from the university, as it was perceived as a group founded, funded and backed by Nike and other corporations, and had also been criticized by worker rights advocates as an exercise in dishonest public relations. University President Dave Frohnmayer subsequently signed a one-year contract with the WRC; Knight then withdrew
4455-527: The organization the "OHSU Knight Cancer Institute ." In October 2010, Knight donated several million dollars to the Catlin Gabel School to establish a scholarship for incoming freshmen students. On May 18, 2012, Knight contributed US$ 65,000 to a higher education Political Action Committee (PAC) formed by Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle. According to Boyle, the PAC will help facilitate an increase in
4536-431: The parents divorced in 1913. Bowerman had an older brother and sister, Dan and Mary Elizabeth "Beth"; and a twin brother, Thomas, who died in an elevator accident when he was two years old. Bowerman attended Medford and Seattle schools before returning to Medford for high school . He played in the high school band and for the state-champion football team in his junior and senior years. Bowerman first met Barbara Young,
4617-428: The record to 16:05.0. Among athletes that Bowerman coached are: Otis Davis , Steve Prefontaine , Kenny Moore , Bill Dellinger , Mac Wilkins , Jack Hutchins , Dyrol Burleson, Harry Jerome , Sig Ohlemann , Les Tipton, Gerry Moro, Wade Bell, Dave Edstrom , Roscoe Divine, Matt Centrowitz , Arne Kvalheim , Jim Grelle , Bruce Mortenson, Phil Knight and Mel Renfro . Renfro was a track and football All-American, had
4698-433: The success and popularity of American runners like Craig Virgin (charter member), Steve Prefontaine , Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers helped inspire the 1970s running boom . According to Otis Davis , a student athlete who Bowerman coached at the University of Oregon , who later went on to win two gold medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics , he was one of the guinea pigs for whom Bowerman customized shoes prior to being
4779-496: The top 10 in the nation sixteen times. As co-founder of Nike, he invented some of their top brands, including the Cortez and Waffle Racer , and assisted in the company moving from being a distributor of other shoe brands to one creating their own shoes in house. Born in Portland, Oregon , Bowerman's father Jay was a former governor ; his mother, Elizabeth Hoover Bowerman, had grown up in Fossil . The family returned to Fossil after
4860-574: The total to $ 1 billion raised. Knight and wife Penny also donated to the Marylhurst Knights Opportunity Scholarship Program at Marylhurst University , a private Roman Catholic university in Marylhurst, Oregon ; as a result, the university named a lawn on their campus "Knight's Green" in the family's honor. In December 2016, Knight disclosed that he had donated $ 112 million in Nike stock to charity. In 2000, Knight
4941-445: The university. In response, athletic director Pat Kilkenny said: "This extraordinary gift will set Oregon athletics on a course toward certain self sufficiency and create the flexibility and financial capacity for the university to move forward with the new athletic arena." At the time, the donation was the largest philanthropic gift in the history of the university. The 2010 construction of the UO basketball team's Matthew Knight Arena
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#17331065251735022-507: The war, Bowerman returned to his position at Medford High School. The family then moved to Eugene where he became the head track coach at his alma mater, the University of Oregon , on July 1, 1948. Bowerman's "Men of Oregon" won 24 NCAA individual titles (with wins in 15 of the 19 events contested) and four NCAA team crowns (1962, 1964, 1965, and 1970), and posted 16 top-10 NCAA finishes in 24 years as head coach. His teams also boasted 33 Olympians, 38 conference champions and 64 All-Americans. At
5103-475: The western United States. The first Tiger samples would take more than a year to be shipped to Knight; during that time he found a job as an accountant in Portland. When Knight finally received the shoe samples, he mailed two pairs to Bowerman at the University of Oregon, hoping to gain both a sale and an influential endorsement. To Knight's surprise, Bowerman not only ordered the Tiger shoes, but also offered to become
5184-584: The woman he married, while a high school student in Medford. In 1929, Bowerman attended the University of Oregon to play football and study journalism. At the suggestion of longtime track coach Bill Hayward , he also joined the track team. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity . After graduating, he taught biology and coached football at Franklin High School in Portland in 1934. In 1935, Bowerman moved back to Medford to teach and coach football during which won
5265-600: The world after graduation, during which he made a stop in Kobe, Japan , in November 1962. It was there that he discovered Tiger brand running shoes, manufactured in Kobe by the Onitsuka Co. , now known as Asics . Impressed by the quality and low cost of the shoes, Knight called Mr. Onitsuka, who agreed to meet with him. By the end of the meeting, Knight had secured Tiger distribution rights for
5346-570: Was William Perez , former CEO of S.C. Johnson & Son , Inc., who was eventually replaced by Mark Parker in 2006. In 2011, the Matthew Knight Arena at the University of Oregon was named in his honor. During the 2009–2010 period, Knight was the largest single contributor to the campaign to defeat Oregon Ballot Measures 66 and 67 , which, once passed, increased income tax on some corporations and high-income individuals. In June 2015, Knight and Nike announced that he would step down as
5427-426: Was America's second largest donor with $ 1.2 billion in giving. In 2006, Knight donated US$ 105 million to the Stanford Graduate School of Business , which, at the time, was the largest ever individual donation to a U.S. business school. The campus was named "The Knight Management Center," in honor of Knight's philanthropic service to the school. In 2016, it was announced that Knight contributed $ 400 million to start
5508-420: Was Knight's success in lobbying for former insurance executive Pat Kilkenny to be named as athletic director at the university. Kilkenny had neither a college degree nor any prior experience in athletics administration. He attended but did not graduate from UO, as he left the school with several credit hours still owing. Prior to his appointment at UO, Kilkenny had been the chairman and chief executive officer of
5589-527: Was UO's 2018-2019 honorary degree recipient. Major gifts include funds supporting the renovation of the Knight Library and construction of the Knight Law Center. Contrary to press reports, which claim that Knight financed the whole library renovation project, Knight only financed a portion of the library's renovation. Knight also established endowed chairs across the campus. In the fall of 2016, it
5670-424: Was a " Distinguished Military Graduate " . As a middle-distance runner at Oregon, his personal best was 1 mile (1.6 km) in 4 minutes, 13 seconds, and he won varsity letters for his track performances in 1957, 1958, and 1959. In 1977, together with Bowerman and Geoff Hollister, Knight founded an American running team called Athletics West . Before Blue Ribbon Sports—later Nike—flourished, Knight worked as
5751-431: Was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans , 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champions and 16 sub- 4 minute milers . Bowerman disliked being called a coach, and during his 24 years at the University of Oregon , the Ducks track and field team had a winning season every year but one, attained 4 NCAA titles, and finished in
5832-561: Was announced that Knight will donate $ 500 million to UO for a new three-building laboratory and research science complex. This donation was part of a series of large higher-education gifts. Knight contributed towards the Moshofsky Center, which opened in 1998. In August 2007, Knight announced that he and his wife would be donating US$ 100 million to found the UO Athletics Legacy Fund to help support all athletic programs at
5913-451: Was experimenting with shoe design, he worked in a small, unventilated space, using glue and solvents with toxic components that caused him severe nerve damage. The nerve damage to his lower legs left him with significant mobility problems; as Kenny Moore notes in his book Bowerman and the Men of Oregon , Bowerman had rendered himself unable to run in the shoes that he had given the world. Bowerman
5994-543: Was formally inducted on September 7, 2012. In 1989, Knight received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement . For his "contributions to business, corporate and philanthropic leadership", Knight was elected to the 2015 American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership class. In 2020, the university polled alumni and fans on social media, asking them which four UO alumni they would place on
6075-507: Was given an undisclosed amount of Nike stock for her contribution to the company's brand. On the Oprah television program in April 2011, Knight claimed he gave Davidson "a few hundred shares" when the company went public. At Nike, Knight developed personal relationships with some of the world's most recognizable athletes, including Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods . Following mainstream success in
6156-624: Was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame for his Special Contribution to Sports in Oregon. At the time of his induction, he had contributed approximately US$ 230 million to UO, the majority of which was for athletics. On February 24, 2012, Knight was announced as a 2012 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame , as a contributor . The Hall recognized him as the driving force behind Nike's huge financial support of U.S. basketball and its players. Knight
6237-498: Was made in 1998, and Bill Bowerman was played by Donald Sutherland. The headquarters for Nike is located on Bowerman Drive in homage to the company's co-founder. Also in his honor, the company created the "Bowerman Series" of performance running shoes, designed to provide longer-lasting, more training-focused products to compete with such running brands as Asics and Saucony . In 2009, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association created The Bowerman , an award that
6318-567: Was named the Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center and includes motion capture systems, neurocognitive assessment tools, 40-yard dash track, and steam machines made by Nike to help athletes break into their footwear more quickly. In 2021, Knight helped to fund the renovation of Hayward Field , a track and field stadium at the university. The project was estimated to cost $ 270 million, although Knight's total contribution remained private. Knight's contributions to
6399-439: Was obsessed with shaving weight off his athletes' running shoes . He believed that custom-made shoes would weigh less on the feet of his runners and cut down on blisters , as well as reduce the overall drag on their energy for every ounce he could remove from the shoe. By his estimation, removing one ounce (28 g) from a shoe, based on a six-foot gait for a runner, would translate in a reduction of 55 pounds (25 kg) of lift over
6480-470: Was the result of a partnership between Knight and former Oregon athletic director Pat Kilkenny. Although Knight didn't pay for the project directly, he established a $ 100 million "Athletic Legacy Fund." The fund supports the athletic department. Named after Knight's deceased son, the venue replaced the McArthur Court building and cost over US$ 200 million to build. The facility was built using bonds backed by
6561-522: Was then promoted into the roles of Laika CEO and president. In May 2004, two years after Knight bought Vinton, his son Matthew, aged 34 years, traveled to El Salvador to film a fund-raising video for Christian Children of the World, a Portland nonprofit organization . However, while scuba diving with his colleagues Vincenzo Iannuzzelli and Robert McDonell in Lake Ilopango , near San Salvador , he died from
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