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This week noted philanthropist Darlene Marcos Shiley sits down to talk with Richard and Joe about her life and giving back to San Diego. The “Duchess of Downton” might be most familiar to people due to the 10 second introduction of the popular PBS series “Downton Abbey.” A long time supporter of PBS’s Masterpiece Trust, her $5 million dollar donation pays for air-time in the United States. Her exposure at the beginning of each episode makes her a recognizable figure. Darlene and her late husband Donald have donated to charities for decades providing over $100 million dollars to science, education and the arts. You really cannot go anywhere in the San Diego region without encountering one of the benefactors of the Shileys’ contributions. There is the Shiley Eye Center, the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage at the Old Globe Theater, the Donald P. Shiley BioScience Center at San Diego State University, the Shiley-Marcos Alzhiemer’s Disease Research Center at UCSD and the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering at the University of San Diego . She also pledged five million dollars to Scripps Health in support of the Musculoskeletal Center and $3 million to California State University San Marcos for a pilot palliative-care project.
Darlene was married to successful businessman and engineer Donald P. Shiley for 32 years until his death in 2010. Donald was the inventor of the Bjork-Shiley heart valve which has been credited with saving over 400,000 lives. The couple met through a mutual friend at a dinner following Darlene’s performance of “The Lion in Winter” at Berkeley. A few months after their marriage Donald sold his company to Pfizer for an undisclosed but sizable amount. Long before it became the popular thing to do, the Shileys decided to donate their fortunate and not wait until they were gone to distribute their wealth. Darlene was put in charge of find and vetting causes. Friendly and approachable, she is also tough, holding the charities who receive her donations accountable for their promises.
Darlene graduated with honors from San Jose State University with a degree in Theatre Arts and Humanities and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the UCSD Distinguished Service Medal, Human Unity Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice, Philanthropists of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Development Volunteer of the Year by by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, USD President’s Award, and the UCSD Chancellor’s Medal for Extraordinary Contributions to Education.
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