Steve Shirley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dame
Steve Shirley
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Shirley in 2013
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| Born |
Vera Stephanie Buchthal
16 September 1933 |
| Occupation | Businesswoman and philanthropist |
| Organization | Freelance Programmers (Xansa, now part of SopraSteria) The Shirley Foundation; Oxford Internet Institute; Autism at Kingwood; Prior's Court Foundation; Autistica; Autism Cymru; All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism |
| Known for | Philanthropy and founding the IT company Freelance Programmers (now part of Sopra Steria) |
| Awards | FREng (2001) CHM Fellow (2018) |
| Honours | DBE CH Multiple doctorates |
Dame Vera Stephanie "Steve" Shirley is a famous businesswoman and a kind person who gives a lot to charity. She is known for her work in computers and for helping others. She was born in Germany in 1933 and later became a British citizen.
Contents
Early Life and Journey
Escaping Danger
Steve Shirley was born Vera Buchthal in Dortmund, Germany. Her father was a judge who lost his job because of the Nazi regime. In July 1939, when she was five years old, Steve and her nine-year-old sister, Renate, came to Britain. They were child refugees who traveled on a special train called the Kindertransport. Steve felt very lucky to have been saved.
New Home and School
She was placed with foster parents in Sutton Coldfield, a town in the Midlands. Later, she met her birth parents again, but she said she "never really bonded with them." Steve believes that her early experiences helped her to be strong and adapt to changes in her life and career.
After attending a convent school, she moved to Oswestry, near the Welsh border. There, she went to Oswestry Girls' High School. Her school did not teach mathematics, so she got special permission to take math classes at the local boys' school. She remembered her time in Oswestry as "five wonderful years of peace" after her difficult childhood.
Building a Career
Starting in Technology
After school, Steve Shirley decided not to go to university. Instead, she looked for a job in math and technology. When she was 18, she became a British citizen and changed her name to Stephanie Brook.
In the 1950s, Steve worked at the Post Office Research Station. She helped build computers from scratch and wrote computer code. She also took evening classes for six years to earn a degree in mathematics. In 1959, she joined CDL Ltd, a company that designed computers.
Founding a Company
After marrying physicist Derek Shirley in 1959, Steve started her own software company called Freelance Programmers. She began with only £6. She wanted to create job opportunities for women who had families to care for.
Steve had faced unfair treatment in her previous workplaces because she was a woman. So, her company mostly hired women. Out of the first 300 staff, only three were men. This changed after the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made it illegal to hire only women. She even started using the name "Steve" to help her in the business world, as letters signed with her real name often didn't get replies. Her team worked on important projects, like programming the black box flight recorder for the Concorde airplane.
Steve Shirley retired in 1993 when she was 60 years old. Since then, she has focused on giving back to the community through charity work.
Awards and Recognition
Honored for Her Work
Steve Shirley has received many honors for her contributions to technology and charity.
- In 1980, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
- In 2000, she became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her work in information technology.
- In 2017, she was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) for her services to the IT industry and charity.
In 1987, she received the Freedom of the City of London. She was also the first female President of the British Computer Society from 1989 to 1990.
Further Achievements
Steve Shirley was recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2001. She has given most of her wealth to charity, especially through the Shirley Foundation. This foundation supports many causes, including the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and the Oxford Internet Institute.
Her son, Giles (1963–1998), had autism. Because of this, she became an early member of the National Autistic Society. Through the charity Autistica, she has started and funded important research in the field of autism.
In 2003, Steve Shirley received the Beacon Fellowship Prize for her work in autism research. She was also honored for using information technology to help the public. She has received many honorary doctorates from universities across the UK.
In 2013, she was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. In 2014, the Science Council listed her as one of the "Top 100 practising scientists" in the UK. In 2018, she became a Fellow of the Computer History Museum. She was also the first woman to win the Gold Medal of the Chartered Management Institute.
In 2021, Steve Shirley unveiled a blue plaque in Oswestry to remember her school years there. She also unveiled a statue in Harwich that honors the Kindertransport children who arrived at the port.
Helping Others (Philanthropy)
The Shirley Foundation
The Shirley Foundation was started by Steve Shirley in 1986. It was a charity fund that focused on supporting projects related to autism spectrum disorders, especially medical research. The foundation supported many projects, including:
- Autism at Kingwood: This group helps people with autism live full and active lives.
- Prior's Court: This is a residential school for 70 autistic students and a center for 20 young autistic adults. It was the foundation's largest gift.
- Autism99: This was the first online autism conference, with 165,000 people from 33 countries attending.
Steve Shirley often speaks at conferences around the world. She stays in touch with parents, caregivers, and people with autism. Her son, Giles, who had autism, passed away at age 35 from an epileptic seizure.
Giving Back
From 2009 to 2010, Steve Shirley was the UK's Ambassador for Philanthropy. This was a government role to give people who donate to charity a "voice."
In 2012, she gave her entire art collection to Prior's Court School and the charity Paintings in Hospitals. In 2013, she talked about why she had given away more than £67 million of her personal wealth. In her 2012 book Let IT Go, she wrote, "I do it because of my personal history; I need to justify the fact that my life was saved."
Books by Steve Shirley
- Let It Go: My Extraordinary Story – From Refugee to Entrepreneur to Philanthropist (2012, revised 2018)
- My Family in Exile (2015)
- So To Speak (2020) – a collection of 30 of her speeches.
See also
In Spanish: Steve Shirley para niños
- Arnold Buchthal
- Dina St Johnston
- Rosa Buchthal
- F International
