John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols gave a five-year $500,000 gift in support of SAIC's new suite of outreach programs at Homan Square in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood. The gift will provide general support to all SAIC programs at Homan Square, including the Early College Program, Artist-in-Residence, and urban farming and civic engagement initiatives. This generous gift represents a continuation of the Nichols family's long history of support of SAIC and the Foundation for Homan Square, a community development organization in North Lawndale. The Nichols also made a gift to help renovate the historic Sears Tower on the Homan Square campus, recently renamed the John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Tower. SAIC and several other not-for-profit organizations will offer programs in the Nichols Tower beginning in 2016.