Students in English classes at Stanford University have taken note recently of a 69-year-old man named Phil, who has been spotted in creative-writing seminars, sometimes wearing a black blazer and white Nikes. Rumors that their classmate is Philip H. Knight, Nike’s founder and chairman, are true, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

Mr. Knight has periodically taken classes with Stanford undergraduates over the past three years. As an unregistered student, he has written essays and played host to after-class bar gatherings. Students told the newspaper that their “studious and intense” classmate was working on a novel.

Stanford is probably happy to be host to Mr. Knight, who is worth an estimated $8-billion. In 2006 he gave $105-million to the university’s Graduate School of Business. He has also given large amounts to the University of Oregon, including a $100-million gift this year. —Paul Fain