Renovations to Northeastern’s Burlington campus, first announced in the spring, will be funded by a $12 million grant from George J. Kostas, a 1943 College of Engineering graduate.

The grant for the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security will be the largest gift for a capital project in the university’s history.

“This gift expresses our gratitude to my alma mater and to those who crafted our democratic form of government,” Kostas said in a university press release. “It is our desire to assist in preserving our constitution for the benefit of future generations from terrorists who have demonstrated their increasing capability to destroy our democratic form of government.”

Kostas has donated $2 million to establish the university’s George J. Kostas Nanoscale Technology and Manufacturing Research Center, which was completed in 2005.  He is the founder of Techno-Economic Services Co., a synthetic rubber manufacturing company.

The university has accumulated about $820 million worth of debt, about the pre-recession size of the endowment, which is now closer to $520 million. In May, officials said the university will not be embarking on any new building projects with the exception of the Burlington campus expansion, entirely paid for by a 91-year-old alumnus whom they then declined to identify.

“He’s 91 [years old] and wants to have an impact on his alma matter and the country,” said Jack McCarthy, senior vice president for administration and finance. “Either he [funds] it 100 percent or we don’t do anything.”

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