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É«ÇéÊÓƵ joins the City of San Diego in celebrating Darlene Shiley Month and recognizing Shiley’s steadfast support of local institutions, including San Diego’s three major universities.

Mayor Jerry Sanders’ decision to honor Shiley during the month of April indicates the broad impact of her prudent brand of philanthropy.

Advancing research at É«ÇéÊÓƵ

At San Diego State, Shiley named the in honor of her late husband, a bioengineer who invented the Bjork-Shiley heart valve. Her $5 million gift supports the center’s unique research on the links between infection, inflammation and heart disease.

A theatre and humanities major at San Jose State University, Shiley also contributed to É«ÇéÊÓƵ’s musical theatre master’s program and to student scholarships.  She received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from San Diego State in 2008.

New $1 million gift to KPBS

Shiley recently increased her giving to — the university’s public broadcast station — with a $1 million contribution to be divided equally between the local affiliate and PBS,the nonprofit corporation whose members are America’s public broadcast stations. The PBS gift will support the MASTERPIECE Trust, created to secure the future of the popular television series MASTERPIECE.

Since 1992 and including the MASTERPIECE Trust gift, the Shileys have bequeathed $2.975 million to PBS and its affiliates. Donald and Darlene made their first contribution of $1 million to name the Shiley Studio at KPBS and followed that with several gifts to support capital improvements and programming.  Darlene Shiley is chair of the KPBS Advisory Council and founding chair of the KPBS Producers Club, a position she held for more than 20 years.

Shiley's transformative donations support . Through the campaign, private funding moves the university forward with strategic investments in people and programs -- attracting and retaining top faculty, supporting innovation and providing scholarships. .

Other local beneficiaries

Shiley’s support of San Diego State will be recognized on the É«ÇéÊÓƵ freeway sign, in messages on KPBS radio and in campus news stories and videos.

Elsewhere in San Diego, Shiley has contributed to the Shiley Eye Center and the Shiley-É«ÇéÊÓƵs Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at UCSD; the Donald P. Shiley Center for Science and Technology at USD;  Scripps Clinic, The Old Globe Theater and the Alzheimer’s Association.