耐克創始人奈特向斯坦福捐贈4億美元
Nike founder Philip Knight has given $400m to Stanford University, equalling the largest individual donation to a US college, for an ambitious international programme to draw potential future world leaders to Silicon Valley.
耐克(Nike)創始人菲利普•奈特（Philip Knight，上圖右）向斯坦福大學(Stanford University)捐贈4億美元，這是個人向美國大學捐贈的最大一筆錢。這筆錢將用於一個雄心勃勃的國際獎學金項目，旨在將有潛力的未來世界領袖吸引到這所位於硅谷的大學來。
The donation marks the largest contribution to a $750m fund for an elite graduate scholarship scheme to rival established programmes like the 114-year-old Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford university, whose alumni include former president Bill Clinton.
這筆捐贈還是對一項7.5億美元的精英研究生獎學金項目基金的最大一筆捐贈。該項目將媲美一些老牌項目，比如牛津大學(Oxford university)有114年曆史的羅德獎學金(Rhodes Scholarship)項目，美國前總統比爾•克林頓(Bill Clinton)就曾獲得該獎學金。
Growing competition to attract and train future political and business leaders from around world has produced a spate of well-financed scholarship schemes in recent years, with billionaires lining up to back the idea.
近來年，爲吸引和培養來自世界各地的未來政治和商業領袖而展開的日益激烈的競爭，催生了一大批資金雄厚的獎學金項目，億萬富翁競相出資支持。
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates put $210m behind a two-year scholarship programme that bears his name at Cambridge university, while Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive officer of investment firm Blackstone, has given $100m towards a one-year program at Beijing’s Tsinghua University that begins this year.
微軟聯合創始人比爾•蓋茨(Bill Gates)向劍橋大學(Cambridge University)捐款2.1億美元設立了一個冠名的兩年獎學金項目。投資公司黑石(Blackstone)首席執行官蘇世民(Stephen Schwarzman)向北京清華大學(Tsinghua University)一項從今年開始招生的一年獎學金項目捐贈了1億美元。
Stanford is set to top these in ambition, taking 100 students a year for three year graduate degrees that it claims will shape them to take on some of the world’s most complex and challenging social issues.
斯坦福的雄心超過了以上這些項目。斯坦福的項目每年將招收100名學生攻讀三年制研究生學位。斯坦福聲稱，該項目培養出來的學生，將應對當今世界一些最複雜、最具挑戰性的社會問題。
“We were struck by the need for better leadership around the world,” said John Hennessy, the president of Stanford, who came up with idea. “We thought leaders need to be educated in a different way, because you’re not going to solve these really hard problems. Whether it’s climate change, growing income disparity, poverty, corruption, you’re not going to solve them by just having a narrow background.”
“世界各地對更優秀領導者的需求讓我們感到驚訝，”這一設想的提出者、斯坦福大學校長約翰•亨尼西（John Hennessy，上圖左）表示，“我們認爲需要以一種不同的方式來培養領導者，因爲他們未來要去解決那些真正困難的問題。無論是氣候變化，還是收入差距擴大、貧困和腐敗問題，都是僅憑狹窄的背景無法解決的。”
Mr Knight, who had already given large amounts to Stanford and the University of Oregon, said he had a “soft spot for education” and been persuaded by Mr Hennessy’s vision of being able to train an elite group to make a real difference to the world. “I come from a world view that management and leadership matters — individual leaders can make a large difference,” said Mr Knight.
過去已經向斯坦福大學和俄勒岡大學(University of Oregon)捐贈過大筆資金的奈特表示，他“熱愛教育”，而且被亨尼西提出的培養一羣精英以切實改變世界的願景說服。“在我的觀念中，管理和領導力很重要——領導者個人可以產生很大的影響，”奈特說。
While expecting to draw a third of its students from the US, the programme is intended to pull promising talent from around the world, with a strong focus on Asia and developing countries in other regions, according to its founders.
根據項目創始人的說法，雖然預計三分之一的學生將從美國招收，但該項目有意從世界各地招募有潛力的人才，並將把很大一部分重心放在亞洲和其他地區的發展中國家上。
Stanford said it would start taking applications for the programme, known as the Knight-Hennessy Scholars, in the middle of 2017, with the first scholars admitted in the autumn of 2018.
斯坦福表示，這個命名爲“奈特-亨尼西學者”(Knight-Hennessy Scholars)的項目將從2017年年中開始接收申請，首批獎學金獲得者將於2018年秋季入學。
