Announcement of Phase 2 for Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact

Submitted by Matt Roberts, Senior Director, Community Relations, University of Oregon

EUGENE, OR, July 6th 2021 – The University of Oregon announced a second $500 million gift from Penny and Phil Knight, launching the next phase of our state-of-the-art research campus, and opening the doors of experiential applied learning to more students. 

With this gift, the University will further expand our strengths in bioengineering and applied scientific research and training, creating new opportunities for additional students, adding faculty positions and funding a second research facility.

The first phase of the Knight Campus is already attracting top scientists, physicians and engineers who are leading innovations and creating important public-private partnerships. Knight Campus faculty members are implementing world-class curricula that not only teach students the knowledge and tools of their scientific trade, but also inspire entrepreneurship, develop communication skills and strive to make science and engineering more inclusive for all. The Knight Campus also encourages and supports its researchers in their efforts as academic entrepreneurs to develop inventions, file patents, sign license agreements and start new companies.

First-of-their-kind technologies created by Knight Campus faculty have established high-resolution 3D-printing methods with the potential to make advanced medical implants. These versatile materials have potential applications throughout the body, such as artificial blood vessels and dental implants, bone and tendon repairs and nerve regeneration. Other recent innovations include sensors that allow doctors to monitor the progress of bone regeneration in trauma patients, new methods of designing proteins to treat disease and synthesizing genes to fight disease, as well as new strategies to deliver proteins to repair damaged tissues.

*Image courtesy of University of Oregon.

The $500 million gift announced today enables the Knight Campus to shift into phase two of its planning process, which includes a second research facility for research and innovation. The current plan is for a 175,000-square-foot, multistory bioengineering and applied science research building to support expanded research programs and facilities. The second building is slated to be built north of the first Knight Campus building, on two acres along Riverfront Research Parkway. It will create new core research facilities and flexible lab spaces that support bioengineering and applied science research. Portland-based ZGF Architects has been selected for programming and concept design services. 

In addition to funding design and construction, the gift will support faculty, academic and innovation programming, as well as support operations through an endowment. 

Today’s announcement is a continuation of significant philanthropic support that the University has received since the inception of the University of Oregon Board of Trustees in 2014, including over $50 million to endow the PathwayOregon program which ensures that academically qualified, federal Pell Grant–eligible Oregonians have their tuition and fees paid, ensuring they have access to the promise of a college degree.

We are very excited about what this gift means for our students, the Eugene/Springfield community, and how the research that is conducted and developments made at the campus can help solve some of society’s most challenging problems. 

You can learn more about the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at accelerate.uoregon.edu.

Please contact me with any questions you may have. 

Sincerely, 
Matt Roberts
Senior Director, Community Relations