Museum recipient of $10 million gift

BOSTON --Officials of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston are praising a generous donor for being willing to publicize his latest contribution of more than $10 million, saying it will help the museum recruit other donors.

MFA deputy director Patricia Jacoby, who is leading the museum's $500 million expansion campaign, said George D. Behrakis didn't hesitate when she explained why it would help the museum to be able to name a big donor.

"I asked him because we've talked an awful lot about raising the bar around town," Jacoby told The Boston Globe in an interview published Tuesday. "When you have a donor who is also willing to talk about why he's done it, it makes a huge difference."

Behrakis' latest gift brings the total he has given to the museum to $25 million over the last five years. For his generosity, museum officials said they will name its Art of the Ancient World wing in honor of the Behrakis, 72, a Lowell-born pharmaceuticals magnate, and his wife, Margo.

Behrakis, who has run a succession of companies, sold his last company, Muro Pharmaceutical Inc. in 1998, and pledged to spend about 10 percent of his earnings from the deal on charitable causes.

In 2003, Northeastern University, from which Behrakis graduated in 1957, opened a health and science center named after him. He has given $8 million to the university.

The MFA's expansion is scheduled to be completed in 2010. MFA officials said Monday they have raised $352 million of their campaign goal.