History

The Nicholas School celebrates it creation date as 1991, but it represents a coming together of three entities that are almost as old as the university itself. The School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Duke University Marine Lab (both formed in 1938) came together in 1991 to become the School of Environment, which was named the Nicholas School in 1995 following a $20 million gift from Peter M. and Ginny Nicholas of Boston.

In 1997, the Department of Geology (formed in 1936) joined the school as the Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, bringing with it new resources and a new name for the school in December 2000-the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. In December 2003, the Nicholases ended the Campaign for Duke with a $70 million gift to the school, which will create the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.