Steve Shirley

Dame
Steve Shirley
CH DBE FREng DFBCS
Dame Steve Shirley CH DBE FREng DFBCS
	Shirley in 2015
Born	Vera Stephanie Buchthal; 16 September 1933; Dortmund, Germany
Died	9 August 2025 (aged 91)
Occupation(s)	Businesswoman and philanthropist
Organisations	Freelance Programmers; The Shirley Foundation; Oxford Internet Institute; Autistica;
Father	Arnold Buchthal
Relatives	Rosa Buchthal (grandmother)
Awards	FREng (2001); CHM Fellow (2018)
Honours	Order of the British Empire; Companion of Honour;
Website	steveshirley.com

Steve Shirley's voice

Recorded May 2010 from the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs

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Dame Vera Stephanie "Steve" Shirley CH, DBE, FREng, DFBCS (née Buchthal; 16 September 1933 – 9 August 2025) was a German-born British technology businesswoman and philanthropist.^[1]^[2] She founded the Shirley Foundation in 1996.

From May 2009 until May 2010, Shirley was the UK's Ambassador for Philanthropy.^[3]^[4] In 2012, Shirley donated the entirety of her art collection, including works by Elisabeth Frink, Maggi Hambling, Thomas Heatherwick, Josef Herman and John Piper to Prior's Court School and the charity Paintings in Hospitals.^[5]

Shirley died from a short illness on 9 August 2025, at the age of 91.^[6]^[7]

References

↑ Beaty, Zoe (14 June 2019). "The 85-year-old tech entrepreneur who made her staff millionaires". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
↑ Smale, Will (17 June 2019). "I just got fed up with the sexism. It was everywhere". BBC News.
↑ "Dame Stephanie Shirley appointed as philanthropy ambassador". Third Sector. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
↑ "Philanthropist Stephanie Shirley: 'You can only spend so much'". The Telegraph. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
↑ "Art Collection". www.steveshirley.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
↑ "Homepage". Dame Stephanie. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
↑ Kleinman, Zoe (2025-08-11). "Dame Stephanie 'Steve' Shirley, technology pioneer, dies aged 91". BBC News.

Other websites

Dame Stephanie Shirley official website
Listen to an oral history interview with Dame Stephanie Shirley – a life story interview recorded for the National Life Stories project Oral History of British Science at the British Library
IEEE oral history
- "Why do ambitious women have flat heads?" (TED2015)

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[1] Beaty, Zoe (14 June 2019). "The 85-year-old tech entrepreneur who made her staff millionaires". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.

[2] Smale, Will (17 June 2019). "I just got fed up with the sexism. It was everywhere". BBC News.

[3] "Dame Stephanie Shirley appointed as philanthropy ambassador". Third Sector. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2019.

[4] "Philanthropist Stephanie Shirley: 'You can only spend so much'". The Telegraph. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2019.

[5] "Art Collection". www.steveshirley.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.

[6] "Homepage". Dame Stephanie. Retrieved 2025-08-11.

[7] Kleinman, Zoe (2025-08-11). "Dame Stephanie 'Steve' Shirley, technology pioneer, dies aged 91". BBC News.

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