On Apr. 26, 2022, Stanford University announced it was awarded a $75 million gift from Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, in support of a multidisciplinary neurodegenerative brain disease research initiative at the university’s Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.

The Phil and Penny Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience will explore the causes of cognitive decline from diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as potential treatments, focusing on the sources of brain aging, identifying the principles of brain health, establishing techniques to encourage healthy aging and brain resilience, and finding early diagnostics, neurotherapeutics, and effective treatments for brain degeneration.

The Knights have long been supporters of Stanford. Their 2016 gift launched the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program, a graduate-level scholarship to prepare a new generation of global leaders with the skills to address the increasingly complex challenges facing the world. They also made a major gift to construct the Knight Management Center of Stanford Graduate School of Business and have provided substantial support for endowed professorships and Stanford Athletics.