1. In July 1939 Steve Shirley arrived, at the age of five together with her nine-year-old sister Renate, in Britain as a Kindertransport child refugee, and recognized how lucky she was to have been saved.
17 Facts About Steve Shirley
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Steve Shirley was placed in the care of foster parents living in the Midlands town of Sutton Coldfield.
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Steve Shirley was later re-united with her biological parents, but said she "never really bonded with them".
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Steve Shirley took evening classes for six years to obtain an honours degree in mathematics.
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Steve Shirley adopted the name "Steve" to help her in the male-dominated business world, given that company letters signed using her real name were not responded to.
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Steve Shirley served as an independent non-executive director for Tandem Computers Inc.
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Steve Shirley retired in 1993 at the age of 60 and has since focused on her philanthropy.
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Steve Shirley received her BSc in 1956 and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1980 Birthday Honours for services to industry; Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to information technology.
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Steve Shirley was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of Birkbeck College in 2001.
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Steve Shirley has donated most of her wealth to charity.
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In 2003, Steve Shirley received the Beacon Fellowship Prize for her contribution to autism research and for her pioneering work in harnessing information technology for the public good.
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In 1991, Steve Shirley was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Buckingham; since then she has been honoured by the University of Cambridge, and in 2022 by the University of Kent and 28 other UK Universities.
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Steve Shirley was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.
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In September 2021 Steve Shirley unveiled a statue by Ian Wolter on Harwich Quay, Essex.
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The Steve Shirley Foundation, based in the UK, was set up by Steve Shirley in 1986 with a substantial gift to establish a charitable trust fund which spent out in 2018 in favour of Autistica.
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From May 2009 until May 2010, Steve Shirley served as the UK's Ambassador for Philanthropy, a government appointment aimed at giving philanthropists a "voice".
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In 2012, Steve 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.