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Company Founder Biographies: Founder bios of some of the most successful people in business today. |  |
Bill Bowerman Bio, Founder of Nike
In 1948, Bowerman moved back to Eugene to become the freshman football coach at the University of Oregon. He soon became the track coach, and under him the men's track team won 24 individual NCAA titles, four team crowns, and finished in the top ten 16 times during his 24 years as head coach. He also coached the 4 mile relay team that in 1962 beat the world's record in that event. In 1967, he co-wrote a short book on jogging with Dr. W.E. Harris, a cardiologist; the book sold over one million copies, and was instrumental in starting the jogging phenomenon in the United States. When he retired from the university in 1972, he was selected as the head coach for the American track and field athletes headed to the Olympics in Munich, having shown an aptitude for designing training programs for Olympic-level athletes in preparation for the 1968 games. In the meantime, Phil Knight, one of Bowerman's track athletes in the 1950s, proposed that they start an athletic shoe company, with Knight handling the business end and Bowerman working with the designs. It was a casual arrangement, beginning in early 1964 when Knight started selling imported Japanese sneakers out of the trunk of his car at track meets. Bowerman just selected the product at first, based on what his experience told him would work; in time he made his own designs, and a retail store opened in Santa Monica in 1966. The first Nike shoe was released in 1971, named for the Greek goddess of victory, and it and its swoosh logo overtook the popularity of Bowerman and Knight's other products quickly enough that in 1978 they changed the name of their company from Blue Ribbon Sports to Nike. Early growth all came from word of mouth and a few print ads; not until 1982, during the New York Marathon, did they purchase television ad time. Bowerman's designs were made to cut down on blisters, to weigh as little as possible without sacrificing support, and to keep drag to a minimum. In the 1980s, the company expanded globally, and with a growing number of athletic endorsements, they became virtually synonymous with sports. Bowerman passed away in his sleep in 1999, at the age of 88. |
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