Duke University’s eight-year fund-raising campaign ended with a $72 million gift from two alumni. The gift is the largest in the school’s history. Peter and Ruth Nicholas of Boston gave $70 million to expand the reach of the Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Sciences-named in their honor-which trains environmental scientists and policy makers. The remaining $2 million will finance renovations to Duke’s main library.
The couple led the fund-raising effort, which brought in more than $2 billion, a record for Duke.