Investing in the Future of the Environment

$70 Million Gift from Pete and Ginny Nicholas Will Support New Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions p.2

   The gift brings the Nicholases’ contributions to the Campaign for Duke to almost $130 million, the largest amount from an individual or couple in the history of the university. Nearly $100 million of their giving supports the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, including their original gift of $20 million at the start of the campaign to name the school. Their gift is one of the largest by living individuals to environmental education and policy in this country.

  The Nicholases, who chaired Duke’s campaign to raise $2 billion for the university, are both Duke graduates and the parents of three Duke alumni. Pete Nicholas chairs the university’s board of trustees.

  Schlesinger says, “Global warming, water shortages, alarming declines in world fisheries, volatility in energy prices and availability, and outbreaks of strange new diseases are only a few of the world’s pressing environmental concerns. There is no greater challenge facing humanity than to achieve a sustainable future for all species of life on Earth, consistent with an improved quality of life for the world’s population.

  “With the growth of the human population and the desire of all humanity for an affluent and healthy lifestyle, the Earth is experiencing increasing stresses to the chemical, physical, and biological systems that sustain life on this planet. The path to a sustainable future for life on Earth often appears elusive, yet we must find, define, and pursue it.

   “Meeting the world’s current and future environmental challenges will require marshalling the best minds and methods. The time is right to focus Duke’s resources in environmental science and policy to achieve the greatest impact on scholarship and the nation’s environmental agenda.”

page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5