Bill Bowerman: Co-founder of Nike and Legendary Track Coach
Business Owner · Fashion & Apparel
Bill Bowerman coached Oregon track to four NCAA titles, trained 31 Olympians and, as co-founder of Nike, invented the Cortez and the Waffle Trainer.
About Bill Bowerman: Co-founder of Nike and Legendary Track Coach
William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 to December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike. Over his career he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4-minute milers. He disliked being called a coach, and during his 24 years at the University of Oregon the Ducks track and field team had a winning season every year but one, won four NCAA titles and finished in the top 10 in the nation sixteen times. As co-founder of Nike, Bowerman invented some of its top brands, including the Cortez and the Waffle Trainer, and helped move the company from distributing other brands' shoes to making its own in house. Bowerman was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1911; his father, Jay, was a former Governor of Oregon and his mother, Elizabeth Hoover Bowerman, had grown up in Fossil, Oregon, where the family returned after the parents divorced in 1913. He had an older brother and sister, Dan and Mary Elizabeth "Beth", and a twin brother, Thomas, who died in an elevator accident when he was two years old. Sources: English Wikipedia (Bill Bowerman, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Co-founder, Nike; University of Oregon track and field coach (1911-1999)
Company Details
Nike, Inc.
Athletic Footwear, Sportswear
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