Tinker Haven Hatfield is the renowned designer of many of Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

's most popular and innovative athletic shoe

Athletic shoe

Athletic shoe is a generic name for the footwear primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise but in recent years has come to be used for casual everyday activities....

 designs, including the Air Jordan

Air Jordan

Air Jordan, also known simply as Jordans, are a brand of shoes and athletic apparel produced by Nike originally designed for and endorsed by NBA Hall of Famer and Six Time NBA Champion Michael Jordan. The Air Jordan line is now sold by the Jordan Brand subsidiary of Nike...

 III through Air Jordan XV, the twentieth anniversary Air Jordan XX, the final numbered Air Jordan, the XXIII, the 2010 (XXV) and other athletic sneakers including the world's first "cross training

Cross training

Cross-training refers to an athlete training in sports other than the one that athlete competes in with a goal of improving overall performance...

" shoes, the Nike Air Trainer. Hatfield oversees Nike's "Innovation Kitchen".

Early life

Hatfield grew up in Halsey

Halsey, Oregon

Halsey is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. The population was 724 at the 2000 census.-History:The city was founded in 1872, and legally incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 20, 1876. The city takes its name from William L...

 in Linn County, Oregon

Linn County, Oregon

Linn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named in honor of Lewis F. Linn, a U.S. Senator from Missouri who advocated the American occupation of the Oregon Country. By the 2010 US census the population of Linn county was 116,672 showing a 13.2% growth since the 2000 census...

, and graduated from Central Linn High School

Central Linn High School

Central Linn High School is a public high school in Halsey, Oregon, United States.-Academics:In 2008, 75% of the school's seniors received their high school diploma. Of 56 students, 42 graduated, 8 dropped out, 3 received a modified diploma, and 3 are still in high school....

. In high school he was an all-state selection as basketball player, football player, and an All-American in track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, leading to him being named as the athlete of the year in 1970 for high school athletes in Oregon. He then attended the University of Oregon

University of Oregon

-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...

 where he ran track for coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman

Bill Bowerman

William Jay "Bill" Bowerman was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 24 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4 minute milers...

, and at one time had the pole vault record at the school. Academically, he studied architecture and graduated from the University of Oregon School of Architecture

University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts

The University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts is a public school of architecture and visual arts in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the only school in Oregon to offer architecture degrees accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. The school, founded in 1914 by...

.

Nike

Hatfield joined Nike in 1981 and in 1985 started working on shoe design. He realized that his architectural skills also could be applied to athletic shoes. Hatfield was also published for the architectural design of his Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 home. He claims to have designed the cross-trainer as a "multi-sport" shoe when he realized people at his Oregon gym brought various sneakers with them for diverse activities such as basketball, aerobics, weightlifting and jogging. In 1987, Tinker Hatfield designed the Air Max 1 Running Shoe. The visible airbag and lightweight engineering ensured status as the icon of the original running Shoe.

Sportstyle Magazine listed Hatfield as one the most influential people on the business side of sports in both 1993 and 1996, while Fortune

Fortune (magazine)

Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...

 pegged him as one of the "100 Most Influential Designers" of the twentieth century in 1998. He also created the graphic design on the basketball court at the Matthew Knight Arena at the University of Oregon when the facility opened in 2011.

Hatfield's younger brother, Tobie Hatfield, joined Nike in 1990 as a senior engineer.