David G. Mugar, an Armenian-American Businessman, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1939.

He is the architect of the nationally televised July 4th Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular since 1974 and also the Chairman and CEO of Mugar Enterprises, Inc. He is a noted philanthropist and deeply committed to the Boston community. He has been a trusted partner in: The Boston Opera House, home to the Boston Ballet and Broadway in Boston, showcasing Broadway musicals and plays. Great Woods (now Comcast Center) in Mansfield, Massachusetts, Harbor Lights (now Bank of America Pavilion) in Boston’s Seaport District, and the NEXT ticketing agency, the Boston House of Blues, the Paradise Nightclub and the Brighton Music Hall, as well as a long-term lease on the Orpheum Theatre in Boston’s theater district. He also owns and operates Starfish Market and The Marketplace in the US Virgin Islands. Today the 7,000 square foot store serves virtually all the residents of St. John. Other partnerships over the years have included; Barbara Lynch Gruppo, Brownfields Recovery Corporation, Cape Cod Mall, Red Jacket Resorts, Thirwood Place, Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Boston’s Back Bay and The Derby Street Shoppes in Hingham. Mr. Mugar, the majority owner, was also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New England Television Corporation for nearly 12 years, which owned WHDH-TV, Channel 7 and WHDH-AM in Boston.

Mr. Mugar is the Executive Producer of Pops Fireworks Spectacular and founder of Boston 4 Productions which is the production arm of Boston 4 Celebrations Foundation. He first became involved because of his love for the city of Boston and his friendship with Maestro Arthur Fiedler. He has worked closely with Fiedler’s successors John Williams and Keith Lockhart over the last three decades. Pledging that the celebration should always be free and open to all, Mr. Mugar was the event’s sole sponsor for 27 years. Ultimately, he procured corporate sponsorship through Boston 4 Celebrations, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. The event continues to thrive with the vital support of long-time sponsor and the Boston based Liberty Mutual Group. In 1998, for the 25th anniversary of Boston’s Fourth of July event, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts renamed Embankment Road at the base of Beacon Hill, David G. Mugar Way. The State Executive Office of Public Safety also de-commissioned an actual National Guard Howitzer and placed it between the Hatch Shell and the Charles River on the Esplanade with an appropriate informational plaque honoring Mr. Mugar. Today in its 39th year, the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular receives over 500,000 visitors from New England and around the globe. Another seven million tune in nationally on the CBS Television Network to view the event live during a one-hour primetime special.

He is also one of the founders of Boston’s First Night in 1976 and also was appointed by Boston Mayor Kevin H. White as one of three people to be in charge of the 1979 historic visit to the city of Pope John Paul II and the Papal Mass on Boston Common attended by an estimated 400,000 people. He was appointed by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino to be the Executive Producer for Millennial Events for Boston 2000, Inc. Consequently, Mr. Mugar created Boston’s Family Fireworks which was presented at 7pm eastern time (EST); midnight Greenwich Mean Time, which was the moment much of the world celebrated the new Millennium. The tradition continues each New Year’s Eve on the Boston Common at 7pm. He has made major donations to Boston’s Museum of Science in memory of his parents. As a result, The Stephen P. and Marian G. Mugar Omni Theater opened in March 1987. His subsequent donations have served to upgrade both the Omni’s auditorium and its technology, including the digitization of the theater. The Stephen P. and Marian G. Mugar Omni Theatre is New England’s only 180-degree IMAX dome theater and has shown its films to over 17 million people. Mr. Mugar has also donated $10 million to Cape Cod Hospital to construct the Mugar Patient Addition, a state of the art, four story patient care facility which is the tallest building on Cape Cod.

Mr. Mugar is a:

▪ Life Trustee of the Boston Symphony Orchestra ▪ Trustee Emeritus of WGBH Educational Foundation ▪ Former Trustee of the Boston Museum of Science ▪ Trustee of Boston 4 Celebrations Foundation ▪ Corporator of Massachusetts General Hospital ▪ Chairman of the Arthur Fiedler Statue Committee, which placed a bust of Maestro Fiedler on the Esplanade ▪ Chairman of the Boston Arts Festival in 1985 ▪ Member of the Vendome Boston Firefighters Memorial Committee which commissioned a statue on the Commonwealth mall

In late 1999, the Boston Business Journal, in a special supplement entitled, “100 Years, 100 People” named Mr. Mugar “one of Greater Boston’s 100 most influential business people of the 20th Century.”

• Mugar Enterprises
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• David Mugar profile
• http://www.july4th.org/Event_Info/History_and_Heritage]
• [2]