Helen Edison was a San Diego philanthropist with a great love for the arts and humanities. She spent much of her life in St. Louis with her husband Simon, who founded the successful Edison Shoe chain.

Following the fire that destroyed the treasured Old Globe, Helen stepped forward to make a leadership gift in honor of her husband Simon, who prior to passing away, had given so much to her. This gift, by stock, was the single largest gift ever made to a local institution at its time.

Again, in 1994, Helen made another tremendous gift to support The Old Globe's gift shop that bears her name to this day. In addition, Helen was a supporter of UCSD, and other worthwhile arts organizations.

Realizing the value of endowed giving, Helen endowed UCSD's Helen Edison Lecture Series, hosting noted speakers from all fields of the Humanities to share their thoughts with the University community.

Imbued with an uncommon but fetching mixture of rascal wit and social grace, Mrs. Edison loved to entertain, bringing friends together around a piano or a dinner table. It is no surprise then that her largest gifts were made to a treasured theatre and a lecture series, two forums that both serve to bring the public together for an entertaining and enlightening evening.