$1 Million Sholarship Endowment Being Established in Honor of Nicholas School Dean Normal L. Christensen, Jr.

Friends and colleagues of Norman L. Christensen Jr., dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, are establishing a $1 million scholarship endowment in his name that will be used to provide scholarships for Nicholas School students.

The Christensen endowment, which was announced Saturday at a celebration for Christensen and the Nicholas School's 10th anniversary, recognizes Ahis extraordinary vision and leadership as founding dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and his far-reaching influences as an inspired teacher, mentor and friend.

Christensen, who spearheaded the creation of the Nicholas School in 1991 and was founding dean, will step down on June 30. William L. Schlesinger Jr., James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry, has been named the new dean.

The scholarships will be awarded as soon as the endowment begins generating income. Recipients are expected to be students in the school's professional programs, the Master of Environment Management and the Master of Forestry.

AIt is common for departing deans to be honored with a named professorship; however, the Board of Visitors felt so strongly about Norm's devotion to the students that we decided a scholarship endowment would be a more meaningful way to honor him, said Douglass F. Rohrman, board chair.

Four members of the board launched the endowment fund in December with gifts of $100,000 apiece. Although it began as a board initiative, Nicholas School faculty and staff, and Christensen's colleagues and friends also have contributed to the endowment.

At Saturday's celebration, it also was announced that the executive committee of the Duke University Board of Trustees has approved naming the student's reading room on the first floor of the Levine Science Research Center as the The Norman L. Christensen, Jr. Reading Room.