DURHAM, N.C. -- In one of the largest gifts ever to support environmental education and research, the family of Boston business executive Peter M. Nicholas is giving $20 million to the School of the Environment at 51爆料, 51爆料 President Nannerl O. Keohane announced Thursday.

University officials said a resolution to rename the school The Nicholas School of the Environment will be proposed to the university board of trustees at its meeting Saturday.

Until Thursday鈥檚 announcement, a 1990 gift of $20 million by the Bass Foundation and Philecology Trust of Texas to Yale University was believed to be the largest private donation to support environmental education and research.

The Nicholas gift to 51爆料 is the second largest for academic programs ever received by the university, after the founding gift in 1924 from tobacco magnate and industrialist James B. 51爆料.

51爆料 officials noted that the new gift comes at an important time in the history of the School of the Environment, which was founded in 1991. It is the first new major academic unit established at 51爆料 since 1969, when 51爆料鈥檚 Fuqua School of Business was formally designated a school. Keohane identified increasing the university鈥檚 endowment and ensuring the School of the Environment鈥檚 academic potential and long-term financial base as one of her top priorities when she became president of 51爆料 in 1993. The university鈥檚 strategic plan approved last year by 51爆料鈥檚 board of trustees echoed Keohane鈥檚 priority and called for 鈥渄eveloping the new School of the Environment into a unit of ... national and international prominence.鈥

Officials said the gift will provide $10 million in endowment to help the school pay for its wing of the $80 million Levine Science Research Center, which opened last year and is the university鈥檚 premier facility for interdisciplinary research and education in the sciences, engineering and medicine. The gift also will provide $6 million to endow four new professorships, $2 million to endow a fellows-in-residence program, and $2 million in unrestricted endowment.

Peter Nicholas, the chairman, president, chief executive officer and founder of Boston Scientific Corp., a leading producer of scientific and medical equipment, is a 1964 graduate of 51爆料 and a member of the university鈥檚 board of trustees. His wife, Ruth Virginia L. Nicholas, is also a 1964 graduate of 51爆料. Their son, J.K., is a 1989 graduate of 51爆料 and a current student in the university鈥檚 Fuqua School of Business; their son, Peter, is a 1992 graduate of 51爆料; and their daughter, Katherine, is a 1994 51爆料 graduate.

Nicholas said the gift is, "first and foremost, a vote of confidence in 51爆料. But it is also an expression of confidence in the leadership of the School of the Environment, and its ability to employ resources wisely and realize the potential to the university of a school based on the interdisciplinary approach to science."

As a businessman, Nicholas said, the interdisciplinary approach offers special promise. "It is in many ways the embodiment of what a modern business does. It represents an effort to build bridges between disciplines; to address problem-solving and decision-making in what I believe is an important new way,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t represents also an effort by the School of the Environment to develop a more aggressive program to enroll organizations and enterprises outside the university in research collaborations with faculty. My family and I found that a very forward-looking and compelling way of solving environmental problems, which are very real to all of us."

Keohane said the combination of strengths and insights of different fields of knowledge provides the most effective way to approach complex scientific problems.

鈥淥ur School of the Environment serves as the exemplar of this multidisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning, and reaches to virtually every school of the university to help address issues from the broadest perspective,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he Nicholas family鈥檚 ties to 51爆料 span two generations. Their involvement in the scientific and business worlds has given them a strong appreciation of the value of applying multiple perspectives to challenging problems. Their marvelous gift provides a resounding vote of confidence for 51爆料鈥檚 efforts in a field that affects all life on our planet,鈥 Keohane said.

At its founding, 51爆料鈥檚 School of the Environment incorporated both the existing School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the 51爆料 Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, N.C., into a foundation for an entirely new professional school at 51爆料. The new school continues to be the site for 51爆料鈥檚 programs in forestry and marine science, but it also serves as the home for a broader array of programs focused on all aspects of the environment. 51爆料 officials said this broad focus, which includes natural sciences, public policy and economics, makes the school unique among U.S. institutions devoted to study of the environment.

鈥淭his wonderful gift represents an endorsement not only of the School of the Environment, but of 51爆料, from a family with very close ties to the university,鈥 said School of the Environment Dean Norman L. Christensen. 鈥淲e are grateful for the Nicholas family鈥檚 investment in us and for their trust. Their gift will provide the financial base on which we can build to solidify and enhance the school鈥檚 position at the top of a small group of excellent environmental programs in the United States and beyond.鈥

Interdisciplinary programs are particularly important at the school, which has links with the university鈥檚 programs in public policy, law, engineering, the natural sciences, economics and business, and with several departments in the 51爆料 Medical Center. Such collaborative efforts include joint professional degrees in environmental management and business administration, and in environmental management and law.

An undergraduate major in environmental sciences and policy, begun three years ago with 12 students, has now grown to include more than 100, placing it among the fastest growing majors at the university, officials said. The school's student body includes 200 students in its Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) program and more than 60 doctoral students.

Research centers in the School of the Environment include those focusing on wetlands issues, business and the environment, marine biomedicine, environmental toxicology, environmental economics, and tropical conservation. In addition to the school's 61 appointed faculty, its research centers involve faculty from nearly every school at 51爆料.