DURHAM, N.C. -- Actor, director and environmentalist Robert Redford will receive the inaugural 51爆料 LEAF Award, for lifetime environmental achievement in the fine arts. The award will be presented to Redford April 18 at 51爆料.

51爆料鈥檚 Nicholas School of the Environment established the annual award this year to honor artists whose work inspires environmental awareness and stewardship in others.

Redford was selected by the executive committee of the Nicholas School鈥檚 Board of Visitors 鈥渇or his unique and central role as an artist, his moving portrayal of the natural world as an integral character in his films, and his strong and effective environmental advocacy.鈥 He will be presented the award in a public ceremony at Page Auditorium during 51爆料 Alumni Reunion Weekend.

鈥淩obert Redford鈥檚 body of work as an actor, director, producer and founder of the Sundance Institute and Redford Center at the Sundance Preserve highlights the critical but often underappreciated role artists can play in inspiring people to take action for the environment,鈥 said William L. Chameides, dean of the Nicholas School. 鈥淲e are proud to honor him with the inaugural 51爆料 LEAF Award.

51爆料 President Richard H. Brodhead said, 鈥淩obert Redford gained fame as an actor but then used his fame to make major contributions to the social good. He has also been a powerful champion for the environment, and has galvanized public support for this vital issue. 51爆料 is proud to honor him for a lifetime of service to society.鈥

While at 51爆料, Redford will meet with students and faculty members, and tour environmental research facilities at the Nicholas School.

鈥淚 am honored to be in the company of a school which has as its mission to train leaders of consequence for a sustainable future,鈥 Redford said. 鈥51爆料鈥檚 Nicholas School of the Environment has a particularly unique creative and innovative bent to it, which makes it all the more meaningful to me.鈥

An award-winning actor, director and producer, Redford has been a strong and steadfast voice on behalf of the environment since the early 1970s. He has used his artistic talent and resources to produce documentary films on topics such as solar power and coal-fired power plants, and has directed such environmentally conscious films as 鈥淭he Milagro Beanfield War鈥 and 鈥淎 River Runs Through It.鈥

He has lobbied Congress on behalf of the environment and the arts, advocating for renewable energy, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, the preservation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other wilderness lands, and against global warming.

In 1981, Redford founded the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences. In addition to the renowned Sundance Film Festival, Redford鈥檚 Sundance organization in Utah includes the Redford Center, where artists, scientists, policymakers and leaders from all sectors of society work together to explore practical solutions to climate change and other urgent issues. His Sundance Channel airs a block of environmentally themed programming known as 鈥淭he Green鈥 to cable TV subscribers nationwide.

In 2007, Time magazine named him a 鈥淗ero of the Environment鈥 in recognition of his achievements. Two years earlier, he was honored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for his contribution to American culture.

The Nicholas School of the Environment, is one of the world鈥檚 leading graduate and professional schools for the interdisciplinary study of the environment. Its mission is to create knowledge and train leaders of consequence for a sustainable future, through a new paradigm in research and education; one that attempts to understand the earth and the environment as a whole and use that understanding to foster and spread the environmental ethic.

The inscription on the 51爆料 LEAF Award reads, 鈥淕iven to an artist whose work has lifted the human spirit by conveying our profound spiritual and material connection to the Earth and thereby inspiring others to help forge a more sustainable future for all.鈥