2012 Liff Spirit Award Honoree

Malcolm Rogers

Ann and Graham Gund Director, Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Malcolm-Rogers Malcolm Rogers assumed the role of Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), in September 1994. During his tenure, he has presented many innovative exhibitions, enhanced arts education programs, grown the Museum’s encyclopedic collection, and enlarged the MFA’s campus. Rogers’ initiatives to welcome new audiences are motivated by the MFA’s mission: to serve a variety of people through direct encounters with works of art. Under his direction, the MFA has been transformed with the addition of the Art of Americas Wing (2010) and the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art (2011). Since the opening of the Art of the Americas Wing, more than 1.7 million have visited the Museum. Prior to the MFA, Rogers was educated at Oxford University and served as Deputy Director and Deputy Keeper at the National Portrait Gallery, London. He is also the recipient of numerous international awards.

This spring, the MFA will present Alex Katz Prints, a major retrospective of prints by Alex Katz (b. 1927), whose portraits and landscapes of Maine are among the most recognizable images in contemporary art. The companion exhibitions, In Your Face: Mario Testino and Royal Portraits by Mario Testino will debut in October. Both shows feature compelling images taken by photographer Mario Testino (b. 1954), ranging from celebrities that grace the covers of Vogue and Vanity Fair to intimate portraits of Princess Diana and the engagement portraits of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Past Recipients

2022
Kathy Abbott
President and CEO, Boston Harbor Now

2019
Kathryn Ott Lovell
Commissioner, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation

2018
Kelsey Wirth
Founder, Mothers Out Front

2017
Whitney Hatch
Chairman, DCR Stewardship Council

2016
Ropes & Gray
Celebrating 150 Year Anniversary

2015
Mark Volpe
Managing Director, Boston Symphony Orchestra

2014
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
Founder, Central Park Conservancy

2013
Thomas M. and Angela Menino
Mayor and First Lady, City of Boston

2012
Malcolm Rogers
Ann and Graham Gund Director,
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

2011
Valerie Burns
President, Boston Natural Areas Network

2010
Charles Ansbacher
Conductor and Founder,
Boston Landmark Orchestra

2009
Michael and Kitty Dukakis
Former Governor and First Lady,
Commonwealth of Massachusetts

2008
Joan and Ted Cutler
Philanthropists

2007
Agnes “Diddy” Cullinane
Founder, Black and White Boston

2006
Henry Lee
Founder, Friends of the Public Garden

2005
Eugenie Beal
Founding Chair, Boston Conservation Commission
Founding Member, Emerald Necklace Conservancy

Norman Leventhal
Founder, The Beacon Companies