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== Professional life ==
== Professional life ==
After leaving school Vera decided not to go to university to study Biology (the main option for women at that time) but instead to seek employment in a mathematics/technical environment. At the age of 18 she became a British citizen and changed her name to Stephanie Brook.
After leaving school Vera decided not to go to university to study biology (the main option for women at that time) but instead to seek employment in a mathematics/technical environment. At the age of 18 she became a British citizen and changed her name to Stephanie Brook.{{cn}}


In the 1950s she worked at the [[Post Office Research Station]] at Dollis Hill building computers from scratch and writing code in [[machine language]].<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pmvl8</ref>
In the 1950s she worked at the [[Post Office Research Station]] at Dollis Hill building computers from scratch and writing code in [[machine language]].<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pmvl8</ref>

Revision as of 20:37, 10 August 2015

For the professional baseball player, see Steve Shirley (baseball).

Dame Stephanie Shirley
Dame Stephanie Shirley, 2013
Born (1933-09-16) 16 September 1933 (age 90)
Dortmund, Germany
Known forPhilanthropy and founding the IT company, F.I. Group (now Xansa)
HonoursDBE
Medical career
ProfessionBusinesswoman
InstitutionsF.I. Group (Xansa), Chairperson of Autism Speaks and Shirley Foundation
Sub-specialtiesAutism
WebsiteSteveShirley.com
Steve Shirley's voice
Recorded May 2010 from the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Dame Stephanie "Steve" Shirley (nee Buchthal[1]), DBE, FREng,[2] FRSA, FBCS (born 16 September 1933, in Dortmund, Germany) is a British IT-pionieer, businesswoman and philanthropist.

Early life

Shirley was born as Vera Buchthal to a Jewish father, a judge in Dortmund who lost his post to the Nazi regime,[3] and a non-Jewish Viennese mother. At the age of 5 Vera arrived together with her 9 year old sister Renate in Britain unaccompanied in July 1939 as a Kindertransport child refugee.[3][4] She was placed in the care of foster parents living in the Midlands town of Sutton Coldfield.[1] She was later re-united with her biological parents, but said she "never really bonded with them".[5]

The family of her foster parents moved with Vera to Oswestry, near the Welsh border, where she attended the catholic Oswestry Girls' High School. In order to study mathematics which was not taught at the school, she received permission after assessment to take lessons at the local boys school. She would later recall that, after her Kindertransport and wartime experiences, "in Oswestry I had six wonderful years of peace".[1]

Professional life

After leaving school Vera decided not to go to university to study biology (the main option for women at that time) but instead to seek employment in a mathematics/technical environment. At the age of 18 she became a British citizen and changed her name to Stephanie Brook.[citation needed]

In the 1950s she worked at the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill building computers from scratch and writing code in machine language.[6]

She took evening classes for six years to obtain a degree in mathematics. In 1959 she moved to CDL Ltd, manufacturers of the ICT 1301 computer.

In 1962, Shirley founded, with a capital of £6, the software company Freelance Programmers,[3] (later Xansa since acquired by Steria and now part of the Sopra Steria Group). She wanted to create job opportunities for women with dependents, and predominantly employed women, with only 3 male programmers of a total of over 300,[7] until the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made that practice illegal. She adopted the name "Steve" to help her in the male-dominated business world.[8] Her team's projects included programming Concorde's black box flight recorder.[1][9]

She retired in 1993 at the age of 60 and has since focused on her philanthropy.

Honours

Shirley was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1980 Queen's Birthday Honours,[10] and promoted Dame Commander (DBE) in the New Year Honours, 2000.[11]

In 1987, she gained the Freedom of the City of London. She was President of the British Computer Society from 1989 to 1990. In 1985, she was awarded a Recognition of Information Technology Award. In 1999 she received the Mountbatten Medal.[12]

She was appointed a Fellow[2] of the Royal Academy of Engineering[2] in 2001.

She has reportedly donated most[13] of her £150m wealth (from the internal sale to the company staff and later the flotation of F.I. Group) to charity during her retirement.[14] Beneficiaries include the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and the Oxford Internet Institute, part of the Oxford University, through the Shirley Foundation. Her late son Giles (1963–1998) was autistic and she became an early member of the National Autistic Society.[15] She has instigated and funded research in this field, for example through the Autism Research Centre led by Prof. Simon Baron-Cohen.

In 2003 Shirley received the Beacon Fellowship Prize for her contribution to countering autism and for her pioneering work in harnessing information technology for the public good.[16]

In 1991, Shirley was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Buckingham, since then she has been so honoured by 23 English and 4 Scottish Universities.[citation needed]

In February 2013 she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.[17]

In January 2014 the Science Council named Dame Stephanie as one of the "Top 100 practising scientists" in the UK.

In April 2015 she was guest of Jim Al-Khalili on BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific.[18]

Philanthropy

The Shirley Foundation, based in the UK was set up by Dame Stephanie Shirley, in 1986 with a substantial gift to establish a charitable trust fund. Its mission is facilitation and support of pioneering projects with strategic impact in the field of autism spectrum disorders with particular emphasis on medical research. The fund has supported many projects through grants and loans including: Kingwood which supports 96 people with autism and Asperger's to enjoy full and active lives, Prior's Court is the foundation's largest benefaction with a residential school for 70 autistic pupils and Young Adult Centre for 20 autistic students, Autism Cymru, Wales' national charity, Autism99, the first online autism conference attended by 165,000 people from 33 countries. She addresses many conferences and lectures around the world and is in frequent contact with parents, carers and those with autism and the related Asperger's Syndrome.[19] Her autistic son died following an epileptic seizure at the age of 35.[20]

In July 2008, she gave a biographical talk about her life and her ideals which is available online from Gresham College titled "Give and Take".

From May 2009 until May 2010, Dame Stephanie served as the UK's Ambassador for Philanthropy, a government appointment aimed at giving philanthropists a "voice". [citation needed]

In 2013, appearing on BBC Radio 2's Good Morning Sunday with Clare Balding, Dame Stephanie discussed why she had given away more than £67 million of her personal wealth to different projects. In her 2012 memoirs Let IT Go, she writes "I do it because of my personal history; I need to justify the fact that my life was saved."[20]

Works

  • Shirley, S. and Askwith, R. (2012), Let IT Go: The Entrepreneur Turned Ardent Philanthropist, Andrews UK Limited, ISBN 1-782-3428-26 [21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Dame Stephanie to return to Oswestry". Shropshire Star. 1 April 2015. p. 23.Report by Sue Austin. She was due to be attending Oswestry Literary Festival to publicise her autobiography.
  2. ^ a b c "List of Fellows".
  3. ^ a b c "Welcoming home a Dame fine lady". Shropshire Star. 10 April 2015. p. 8."Comment and Analysis" report by Pam Kingsley.
  4. ^ "Biography – Steve Shirley website". Retrieved 17 April 2007.
  5. ^ "Growing influence". Guardian. 14 January 2004. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  6. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pmvl8
  7. ^ Shirley, Stephanie (2012). Let IT Go. United Kingdom: Lightning Source UK Ltd. p. 148. ISBN 978-1782342823. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ "Henley Standard article on the Sue Ryder Awards". Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  9. ^ http://www.ted.com/talks/dame_stephanie_shirley_why_do_ambitious_women_have_flat_heads/transcript?language=en
  10. ^ "No. 48212". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 13 June 1980.
  11. ^ "No. 55710". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 31 December 1999.
  12. ^ "The Mountbatten Medalists". IET. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  13. ^ Desert Island Discs, 23 May 2010, BBC Radio 4
  14. ^ Enterprise Tuesday lecture, Cambridge 3 February 2009
  15. ^ "Timeline – Steve Shirley website". Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  16. ^ "Stephanie Shirley biography". The Beacon Fellowship. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  17. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Woman's Hour, Woman's Hour Power List – Dame Stephanie 'Steve' Shirley". BBC. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  18. ^ [1]
  19. ^ "Dame Stephanie Shirley's UKAF Autism Lecture in Redbridge, England (Medical News Today)". Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  20. ^ a b "Dame Stephanie Shirley". BBC. 27 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  21. ^ Levin, Angela (5 November 2012). "Philanthropist Stephanie Shirley: 'You can only spend so much'". Women's Business. The Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 23 December 2013.

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