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Phil Knight donates $100 million to OHSU
Thursday, October 30, 2008 | 1 comment(s)
PORTLAND (AP) — Nike founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, will donate $100 million to Oregon Health & Science University’s Cancer Center — the largest gift in OHSU’s history.
“I’ve always hoped for a day just like today,” an emotional Stephen Sanders, who served as president of OHSU Foundation until he was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, told a crowd gathered for the announcement on Wednesday.
In recognition of the gift, OHSU will rename the state’s only National Cancer Institute the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.
The first $2 million of the personal gift from the Knights will go for work at the Linda Conant Laboratory Suite, newly named for a friend of the Knight family who died of breast cancer in January. The remaining $98 million will be used at the discretion of the institute’s director, cancer researcher Dr. Brian Druker.
“Unfortunately, cancer touches all of our lives,” Knight said in a statement. “Penny and I believe because of the work of Dr. Druker and his talented staff that the Linda Conants of the future will have more quality years to spend with their loved ones.”
Knight also called Druker “nothing short of a genius and a visionary.”
Druker is a recognized national leader in cancer research. His work was key in developing the drug Gleevec, the first pill that proved successful in stopping chronic myeloid leukemia, an often deadly form of cancer. The drug was developed partly by OHSU, and Druker led the first human trials on Gleevec’s use.
Gleevec is now approved by federal regulators for treatment of six other cancers.
Druker called the gift “transformational,” saying it would be used to “save lives that would otherwise be lost to cancer.”
The cancer institute conducts more than 1,000 research projects and manages about 400 clinical trials per year.
Druker said the money would help OHSU attract top researchers and keep existing faculty members at OHSU, which has been struggling with budget cuts.
“This is a historic event for OHSU,” said President Joseph Robertson, “The Knights’ gift will not only impact Oregonians with cancer, but will ultimately change the lives of patients around the world.”
The donation is a personal gift from the Knights and not from Nike, or its charitable arm, the Nike Foundation.
“I’ve always hoped for a day just like today,” an emotional Stephen Sanders, who served as president of OHSU Foundation until he was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, told a crowd gathered for the announcement on Wednesday.
In recognition of the gift, OHSU will rename the state’s only National Cancer Institute the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.
The first $2 million of the personal gift from the Knights will go for work at the Linda Conant Laboratory Suite, newly named for a friend of the Knight family who died of breast cancer in January. The remaining $98 million will be used at the discretion of the institute’s director, cancer researcher Dr. Brian Druker.
“Unfortunately, cancer touches all of our lives,” Knight said in a statement. “Penny and I believe because of the work of Dr. Druker and his talented staff that the Linda Conants of the future will have more quality years to spend with their loved ones.”
Knight also called Druker “nothing short of a genius and a visionary.”
Druker is a recognized national leader in cancer research. His work was key in developing the drug Gleevec, the first pill that proved successful in stopping chronic myeloid leukemia, an often deadly form of cancer. The drug was developed partly by OHSU, and Druker led the first human trials on Gleevec’s use.
Gleevec is now approved by federal regulators for treatment of six other cancers.
Druker called the gift “transformational,” saying it would be used to “save lives that would otherwise be lost to cancer.”
The cancer institute conducts more than 1,000 research projects and manages about 400 clinical trials per year.
Druker said the money would help OHSU attract top researchers and keep existing faculty members at OHSU, which has been struggling with budget cuts.
“This is a historic event for OHSU,” said President Joseph Robertson, “The Knights’ gift will not only impact Oregonians with cancer, but will ultimately change the lives of patients around the world.”
The donation is a personal gift from the Knights and not from Nike, or its charitable arm, the Nike Foundation.
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