Early in the Campaign for Duke, Nicholas and Ginny gave $20 million to Duke for what became the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences in 1995, paving the way for thousands of Duke students to engage in environmental research and policy. Brian Murray, current director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Duke University Energy Initiative, said that Nicholas gave faculty at the Institute freedom to directly engage in policy processes. In addition to providing the gifts to help create the Nicholas School and Nicholas Institute, Nicholas and his family gifted the University $25 million to create the Nicholas Faculty Leadership Initiative, which matches gifts to the University for support of its faculty.