The Graduate School of Business is getting a new set of buildings to go with its new curriculum. Stanford announced on August 1 that Nike founder and chairman Phil Knight, MBA ’62, will give $105 million to the school, $100 million of which will be used to construct a campus of eight buildings in three quadrangles. (The remaining $5 million will be used to match others’ gifts for endowed professorships.) Knight’s gift is believed to be the largest ever given to a business school.
The GSB will need to raise an additional $175 million to construct the Knight Management Center, and is expected to break ground in 2008. The Board of Trustees has given concept and site approval for the campus, which will replace the school’s current facility. The proposed location is 651 Serra Street, across the street from the Schwab Residential Center, where many Business School students live. The site is currently occupied by a set of administrative buildings.
The 340,000-square-foot center will include flexible classroom space for the small classes and seminars the school plans to offer, as well as facilities for cross-disciplinary classes and lectures. “Phil’s commitment is the linchpin which will allow us to create a physical environment to support new methods of teaching management and leadership while also inviting more collaboration from across Stanford,” says Dean Robert L. Joss. “This is a very exciting time for the Business School.”
