[1] In 1955, he received an honorary mention from the California Newspaper Publishers Association Awards for a series on development in the Southwestern United States.
[4] Nichols moved to the Los Angeles Times in 1961 to be the financial editor, replacing Harold Walsh who left to join EF Hutton as regional director of corporate research.
[1] Nichols was a key figure in expanding the financial section and shifting the focus from local to primarily national coverage.
[3][5] He received a Gerald Loeb special achievement award in 1963 for a series on Howard Hughes' business empire and his court fight with Trans World Airlines.
[6] He won another Gerald Loeb award the following year for the series "The Price of Security" that provides an in-depth examination of the space and defense industries and their relationship to the California and national economies.