The University of Oregon is getting a $1 billion donation from Phil and Penny Knight to create the Knight College of Engineering.

The donation will fund the construction of a third building on the university’s Knight Campus, costs to hire faculty and staff and operational expenses for the new college in “perpetuity,” Robert Guldberg, vice president and Knight Campus executive director, told reporters Wednesday, Sept. 23.

The gift, which he said is spread out over 10 years, is the largest “given to a comprehensive public university,” according to an early-morning press release from the university.

There will not be any duplication of engineering programs offered at Oregon State, and you can find the official Oregon Press Release right here.

An article about it from Yahoo.com discloses more details, and a local paper offers more perspectives. This is a pretty stunning gift, that begins to move the destiny of the university behind Our Beloved Ducks in a direction none of us could have foreseen.

Just... WOW!