SALEM, Ore. — Penelope "Penny" Parks Knight and Nike Inc. founder Philip H. Knight have committed a $5 million gift to Willamette University College of Law in honor of Mrs. Knight's late father Alex L. Parks LLB'49. The Knights' gift will establish the Alex L. Parks Distinguished Chair for the Dean of the College of Law. The initial holder of this chair is Symeon C. Symeonides.

A Willamette law graduate, a successful legal practitioner and former professor, Alex L. Parks was a scholar of maritime law and author of the highly respected law text Tug and Tow. He taught law at Willamette from 1980 until his death in 1988. A highly popular professor, he also served as mentor and advisor to the Willamette Law Review.

Penny and Phil Knight are well known for their philanthropy. With this new gift, the couple adds Willamette University College of Law's name to a select list of higher education beneficiaries to receive generous donations from the Knight family, including Stanford University, Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Oregon. "Phil and I are pleased to make this investment in Willamette's College of Law," said Penny Knight. "It is a place that brought great energy and joy to my father."

Willamette University currently is engaged in a $125 million endowment campaign. The Knights' gift brings the University's campaign total to more than $124.1 million. The Alex L. Parks Distinguished Chair is the second new faculty chair and the fourth seven-figure endowed gift to be established at the College of Law during the endowment campaign. The Willamette Center for Law and Government was endowed in 2002 by Ken (JD'80) and Claudia Peterson, the Rod (JD'80) and Carol Wendt Chair in Business Law was established in 2003, and the Willamette Clinical Law Program was endowed by an anonymous donor in 2004.

"This generous gift from the Knights not only elevates and enhances the College of Law, but the entire University as well," said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton. "Coming as it does in the late stages of The Campaign for Willamette, this gift helps validate the generous gifts we already have received and re-energizes our alumni, trustees and staff for the successful completion of this campaign."

President Pelton added, "It is most appropriate that the chair the Knights have endowed will be held by a person of Dean Symeonides' academic standing. Symeonides is recognized worldwide as one of the top scholars in his field — conflict of laws. The University is fortunate to have this dean-scholar and this very generous gift."

Dean Symeonides added, "Professor Parks enriched the lives of our students a quarter century ago. Now the Knights' investment in the College of Law will honor and perpetuate his memory while also enhancing the college's educational programs for Willamette law students for generations to come. It is an inspiring gift."

Founded in 1883, Willamette University College of Law is the oldest law school in the Pacific Northwest. During the 2008–09 academic year, the law school is celebrating the 125th anniversary of its founding.