June 11, 1998 Contact John R. Crosiar (541) 346-3135 EUGENE--Taking a cue from Phil Knight, a key NIKE international trading partner has made a generous gift to increase support for the UO Knight Library. The Nissho Iwai American Corp. gift will help endow the management initiatives of the UO Knight Library. The gift comes in response to NIKE CEO Phil Knight's 1996 gift of $25 million to the university, $15 of which will fund endowed faculty chairs. The university pledged to raise an additional $15 million to match Knight's investment. "Nissho Iwai's generous gift will make possible a new level of research, strategic planning, and long-range, visionary leadership for the Knight Library," UO President Dave Frohnmayer said. This is the second gift Nissho Iwai American Corp. has made to the Knight Library. The first, in 1990, helped finance the library's $27.4 million expansion and renovation project. Yutaka Kase, general manager of the company's Portland office, says the company made the gift for two reasons. "First, we want to underscore our long-term commitment to the people of Portland, of Oregon, and of the Pacific Northwest by building on our original investment in the University of Oregon's Knight Library," Kase said. "The second reason is to honor Mr. Knight's great commitment to supporting the University of Oregon," he continued. "Our company has worked with Mr. Knight for more than two decades. His leadership in the global marketplace is well known. Now he has provided another kind of leadership by inspiring others to support higher education. We hope that through our gift to endow the management initiatives of the Knight Library, our gesture of respect for Philip Knight will inspire others to follow his example." UO Librarian George Shipman says that for the foreseeable future, the annual income from the endowment will support the Knight Library's current efforts to nurture information-sharing relationships with other research libraries in the United States and abroad. In 1990 the university formally named the second level of the Knight Library the "Nissho Iwai floor." The Nissho Iwai floor includes the East Asian collection, much of the library's general collection, the Information Technology Center and the great South Reading Room. Nissho Iwai's gift brings to $7.6 million the amount raised in private gifts for the UO Library System through The Oregon Campaign, says Shipman. He noted that the library hopes to bring in at least another $1.5 million during the campaign to endow library technology, collections and student employment opportunities. The Oregon Campaign is a five-year effort by the university to raise $200 million in private gifts to improve the university through student scholarships, faculty support, new academic programs, innovative ways of teaching, up-to-date technology and support for vital campus programs. The campaign, which has raised $217 million to date, is scheduled to end in December 1998. -30- #G-2250/Local,OrDailies,PDX,HiEd,Library,Special