For generations, the Papé family has provided the heavy machinery for Oregon industry. Their goal with this recent $5 million gift to the Knight Campus is to inspire more donors to invest in the best-in-class research center—and help build Oregon’s high-tech industries.
Penny and Phil Knight made lead gifts to support the campus, which opened its first building in December 2020. The Papé gift will support the Papé Family Innovation Center, facilities designed specifically for translating academic research into societal impact—surgical devices, medical therapies, and targeted treatments for disease, to name a few examples.
Alumni Susie Papé and her late husband Randy made their first gift of $1,000 to the Lundquist College of Business in 1972, the year they both graduated from the university. Since then, they’ve given again to business, including the Randall C. Papé Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, along with athletics, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the Ford Alumni Center, and other areas. This latest contribution marks their largest single gift—their most generous act of philanthropy for any organization.
Susie and her sons Ryan, BS ’97 (business administration) and Jordan, MBA ’06, were inspired to make their recent gift to the Knight Campus because it unites business and science and bridges different academic disciplines. They were also motivated by the many ways the Knight Campus will boost Oregon’s economy and benefits peoples’ lives in the process.