USD Magazine, Summer 2002

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Couple's Love for Innovation, Education Cements Science Center's Future

M AK.ING HIS WAY around sawhorses and scaffolding, Donald Shiley stood in the center of the four-story science and technology center, now under construction on campus, and a smile spread across his face. An inventor who revolutionized heart surgery by patenting a heart valve that replaces diseased tissue, Shiley knew the cement mixers and steel beams would yield more than a pretty building - it would produce minds chat one day could create inven– tions as important as his own. "I still remember the twinkle in Donald's eye when he rook his first tour of the building," says Pat Drinan, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "He could see the promise and potential fo r this facility, and he knew that getting it under way was a labor of love for our faculty. " A man of few words yet broad actions, Shiley and his wife, Darlene - a USD trustee and an avid sup– porter of the university - returned home after that tour in April and decided to reveal their plans ro ensure chat the promise of the students who would study in the building would be realized. They made the largest gift in their long history of philanthropy - $10 million - toward the $46 million cost of the facility. "It was the best fit for us," says Darlene, who is as outgoing as her husband is reserved . "We both have had a long relationship with science, technology and education, and we aligned on chis project with chis uni– versity because it has a values-based

core. This is our way of showing how important all those elements are to us. " The 150,000 square-foot science center, which will be the largest build– ing on campus when it opens in Fall 2003, will be known as the Donald Pearce Shiley Center for Science and Technology. The name to be engraved on the building carries a legacy of dis– covery - not only did Donald invent the original Bjork-Shiley heart valve, he also designed an endotracheal tube used to maintain the airway in uncon– scious patients, and created aircraft fuel booster pumps chat helped the U.S. government build planes chat can oudl.y the enemy. His broad range of discovery is reflected in the center, which will synthesize chemistry, biology, physics and marine and environmental sci– ences under one roof. The facility was designed specifically so the different departments - which currently are scattered throughout campus with l 950s-era labs Drinan describes as "pre-Sputnik" - will work together. 'The biggest asset in the building

"It was the best fit for us:• says qarlene Shiley, with husband Donald, of their $10 million gift to fund USD's new science center.

Donald Shiley tours the facility with history Professor Iris Engstrand.

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