Page 1 of 1

Tinker Hatfield Article -Former OR star now designs for Nike

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 12:08 pm
by rainbowgirl28
http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=30271

Tinker’s toys
Nike designer has shod 2 million feet, and he’s not done yet
By KERRY EGGERS Issue date: Fri, Jul 22, 2005
The Tribune
It seems such an appropriate first name for the mad scientist behind the genius that is known as the Air Jordan.
Tinker.
For 24 years, Tinker Hatfield has been a creative giant at Nike Inc., his latest title being vice president of special projects.
Hatfield’s expertise has covered many projects over the years, but none with so bold a stroke as the Air Jordan, the most successful sports shoe of all time.
The Air Jordan â€â€

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 1:56 am
by rainbowgirl28
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics ... hoes_x.htm

Hatfields & Olympics: 'It's gotta be the shoes'
By Steve Wieberg, USA TODAY
Tinker Hatfield was an architect, Tobie Hatfield a coach, their lives on seemingly different tracks. Fate threw the brothers back together, working side by side.
Or was it the inexorable pull of the Beaverton, Ore., monolith known as Nike?

You might not have heard of the Hatfields, but you've seen their shoe-design handiwork. Air Jordans. The famous gold-colored spikes worn by sprinter Michael Johnson in the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Sneak a peek at Vonetta Flowers' feet the next two nights. Her Air Zoom Bob shoes? A Hatfield production.

"It's just been a wonderful, lovely collaboration," says Tinker, 53, a Nike vice president who has been with the company since 1981. Tobie, 8½ years younger, joined him there in 1990 and is a senior engineer.

The two always have been close. Growing up in Oregon, both were accomplished three-sport high school athletes who went on to pole vault in college â€â€