With the blessings of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is pleased to announce that George M. Marcus, Archon Exarchos, will be the recipient of the 2023 Nicholas J. Bouras Award for Extraordinary Archon Stewardship. The Award will be presented on Friday, October 20, 2023, at the Bouras Award Dinner during the Order's annual Archon Weekend in New York City.
Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Order, said, “Virtually everywhere the Greek Orthodox Church in America is, there is Archon George M. Marcus. He is involved in an extraordinary range of foundations, organizations, and institutions in the Church and Greek community. Throughout his distinguished life of service, he has shown what it means to be an Archon, a true son of our Holy Mother Church in Constantinople.”
Archon Marcus’ wide range of commitments to God’s Church and the Hellenic community include memberships on the Board of Directors at the Modern Greek Studies Foundation, the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, International Orthodox Christian Charities, and Elios Society of Northern California. He is committed to Leadership 100.
Archon Marcus also founded and serves as the Chairman of the National Hellenic Society, which brings together distinguished Greek Americans on a national level to preserve their heritage. He also spearheaded efforts to rebuild the Church of Panagia of Pera, the Cathedral Church of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch as Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome. In 1978, a catastrophic fire broke out in this historic church, severely damaging the building. Since then, there was no renovation or restoration work, until Archon Marcus donated $500,000 for the renovation of the church, which was originally built in 1804.
Archon George M. Marcus is a Trustee Emeritus of California State University and a Regent Emeritus of the University of California. In 2018, The George and Judy Marcus Funds for Excellence in the Liberal Arts was established at San Francisco State University, which includes the George and Judy Marcus Awards for Faculty and Student Research. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Board of Directors of the Presidio Trust.
Born George Mathew Moutsanas in 1941 in Limni, Evia, Greece on the island of Euboea, he emigrated to the United States in 1945. He graduated as George M. Marcus from San Francisco State University with a B.A. degree in Economics, was honored as Alumnus of the Millennium in 1999 and received an honorary doctorate in 2011. He made his mark in business, founding G.M. Marcus & Company that evolved into Marcus & Millichap Company, where he still serves as Chairman. Archon Marcus is the majority owner of two renowned Greek restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area; Kokkari in San Francisco and Evvia in Palo Alto. In 2014 Mr. Marcus participated in the White House Greek Independence Day celebration, where the authentic cuisine of his restaurants was served, both President Obama and Vice President Biden were in attendance.
George M. Marcus was invested as an Archon on February 24, 1991, and conferred with the offikion Exarchos. He is a fulfilled FOUNDER of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation.
The National Council of the Order of Saint Andrew unanimously voted in 2010 to establish the Nicholas J. Bouras Award. The Award is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary and incomparable stewardship to the Order, empowering Archons to vigorously pursue securing religious freedom for the Mother Church of Constantinople.
The Award is named after the late National Vice Commander Nicholas J. Bouras, Archon Depoutatos, who demonstrated remarkable leadership as a faithful son of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and exemplary steward of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Churchman, World War II hero, devoted husband of his beloved late wife Anna, Philanthropist, sincere Christian, Archon par excellence and Industrialist are terms that have all described the life of Nicholas J. Bouras.
Past recipients of the Award have included George D. Behrakis (2011), James C. Fountas and John Halecky, Jr. (2012), Stephen J. Yallourakis, M.D., D.D.S. (2013), Christopher Stratakis, Esq. (2014), the Hon. Nicholas Tsoucalas (2015), Theofanis V. Economidis (2016), John A. Catsimatidis (2017), George E. Safiol (2018), John S. Zavitsanos (2019) and Michael G. Psaros (2022).