If there was no Stanford Graduate School of Business, there would be no Nike Inc.

Nike Co-founder and Chairman Phil Knight, who graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1962 and subsequently transformed an entire industry, told this year’s class to find true meaning in their professional lives at the US business school’s graduation, on June 2014.

“Now that you have graduated, the goal should not be to seek a job and not a career but to seek a calling,” Nike Inc. Chairman 

Knight originally developed the business plan for the company during an entrepreneurship course he took while in business school. He also gained the confidence to travel to Japan to meet with the Onitsuka Company and acquire US distribution rights for its Tiger athletic shoes. Two years later, in 1964, Phil Knight’s company was founded as Blue Ribbon Sports, before becoming Nike Inc. in 1971.

Stanford GSB’s alumni speaker program was inaugurated in 2010 as a means to inspire graduates in their future careers. “Phil’s unique ability to see opportunity where others did not, along with his perseverance and willingness to take risks, enabled him to transform an entire industry,” said Garth Saloner, Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean of Stanford GSB. “Our students seek to follow his example as a change agent after graduation — and Phil has actively supported their ambitions through his ongoing engagement with the school.”

Knight currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of Nike, which he cofounded with track and field coach Bill Bowerman in 1964. In a 2009 interview, he said that it was “almost certainly true that if there was no Stanford Graduate School of Business, there would be no Nike.” 

After selling running shoes at track events from the back of his car and making sales of $8,000 in the company’s first year, he eventually built Nike into one of the world’s largest suppliers of athletic shoes, apparel, and equipment. He served as its president for 25 years.

In not being afraid to take chances, Phil Knight noted that the only time you must not fail is the last time you try. In 2006, Knight contributed $105 million to help establish Stanford GSB’s new eight-building complex on the Stanford University campus, including the Knight Management Center in his honor, the LEED-certified complex provides an environment that fosters collaboration both within Stanford GSB and with the rest of the larger university.

“Stanford meant a lot to me, and it’s really my hope other students who come to Stanford have as transformative an experience as I did,” said Knight.