GIA Supporter Donald Milliken Dies at 96

By Tara J. McKenna

Donald Booth Milliken, business owner, award-winning gemstone cutter and philanthropist, passed away from heart failure Jan. 29. Remembered by his friends as the most gentle of gentlemen, the Rancho Santa Fe, California, resident was 96.

“Don Milliken was a true entrepreneur who created numerous innovative companies before developing high-speed photographic equipment used in many U.S. space programs, including the Apollo and Saturn programs,” said GIA Museum consultant Edward Boehm. “His meticulous attention to detail allowed him to also excel in faceting gems, a hobby he picked up in his 60s.”

Milliken’s hobby quickly turned into his passion – one that won him many awards. His most prized collection, a case of 39 natural and synthetic stones he personally cut, was awarded the Best Case – Faceted Stones award from the California Federation Show in 1976. He donated the $25,000 collection to GIA in 2001 because he wanted students and visitors to share a piece of his passion.

“We’re getting on in years and I didn’t know what I would do with them. I didn’t want to sell them so GIA was the logical place to turn them over to,” Milliken once said about his collection.

Long before he became an accomplished gem cutter, Milliken, who held a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the California Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford Business School, owned numerous companies. But it was his pioneering use of 16-mm high-speed photography that helped him create a pulse camera for U.S. aerospace programs after World War II. He also designed a wide range of high-speed cameras used to film movies and television shows. He was awarded the Agfa-Gevaert Gold Medal for his innovative cameras in 1978.

“Don was a gracious and dignified gentleman, certainly his humility would capture anyone’s heart,” said Jan White, Milliken’s friend and personal assistant. “He would never talk about his achievements, for him it was enough that he had just done it.” Milliken is survived by his beloved wife, Ruth.