George D Behrakis

George D. Behrakis, 78, is founder and chairman of Mythos, LLC, a private investment company based in Lexington, Mass. He is also chairman of Gainesborough Investments, launched in 1998. Of all his philanthropic endeavors, the most dear to Behrakis is the anti-smoking campaign in Greece he helped to fund. In 2010, Mr. Behrakis gave a $1.8 million grant to a Harvard University School of Public Health study on smoking in Greece. He has also given to the academy of Athens to continue studying the effects of smoking. A 1957 graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, Behrakis also studied at Boston University, and is a recognized leader in the pharmaceutical industry. He became best known, perhaps, for his talent in solubilizing previously insoluble chemicals and making them stable for medical use. After completing his military service, Behrakis began his career at McNeil Laboratories (a division of Johnson & Johnson). In 1968, he founded Dooner Laboratories which developed and manufactured a leading asthma medication, Slophyllin and Slobid. He sold the company to Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Aventis) and purchased ophthalmic firm Muro Pharmaceuticals in 1978. Behrakis sold his eye care products to Bausch and Lomb and searched for new products, including pharmaceuticals for asthma and allergies. Behrakis sold the firm to Asta-Medica AG, a division of German conglomerate Degussa, retiring as president & CEO in 1998. Behrakis is the son of Greek immigrants. He and his wife Margo have established chairs and scholarships at various universities and medical centers. In 2003 Northeastern University and Medical Center opened the Behrakis Health Science Building and also created the Center for Drug Discovery. Perhaps no institution has received as much from Behrakis as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His relationship with the museum dates back to his high school days, when his uncle, John Zaroulis, took him to see the galleries. Later, Behrakis would host parties at the Museum. He became a member in 1989, a patron in 1996, and an overseer in 1998. Then, one day in 2001, Behrakis showed up for lunch with MFA Director Malcolm Rogers and handed him a sealed envelope. Inside was a check for $2 million to endow Christine Kondoleon’s position as curator of Greek & Roman Art. He has given $25 million to the museum since 2006 and the museum now has the new George D. and Margo Behrakis Wing, which houses Greek, Roman and Egyptian Galleries.