- Immigrant Times
- Oct 8
- 3 min read
DAME STEPHANIE SHIRLEY
An immigrant who became a pioneering scientist and honoured philanthropist
By The Immigrant Times
Stephanie Shirley, working as a young scientist at the Post Office Research Station in North-West London, and many years later, celebrating her 90th birthday (Photos: Dame Stephanie Shirley)
October 2025: Dame Stephanie Shirley, a visionary entrepreneur, computer scientist, and philanthropist whose work reshaped the tech industry and advanced social equity, passed away in August 2025 at the age of 91. Her life was a testament to the power of immigration, perseverance, and purpose.
Born Vera Stephanie Buchthal in September 1933, in Dortmund, Germany, she was the daughter of Arnold Buchthal, a Jewish judge who lost his position under the Nazi regime, and Margaret Schick, a non-Jewish Viennese mother.
Her paternal grandmother, Rosa Buchthal, was a noted politician and women’s rights activist. As the shadow of war loomed, five-year-old Stephanie and her sister Renate were sent to Britain in July 1939 via the Kindertransport, escaping Nazi persecution. They were fostered by a family in the West Midlands, where Stephanie quickly adapted to her new life, learning English and attending school as World War II erupted around her.
Her early experiences of displacement and survival instilled in her a fierce determination to live a life of purpose. At Oswestry Girls’ High School, where mathematics was not offered to girls, she secured permission to study it at a neighbouring boys’ school, a sign of her lifelong commitment to breaking barriers. She later earned a mathematics degree while working at the Post Office Research Station in Dollis Hill, London, contributing to early computing projects, including the premium bond computer, ERNIE.
In 1962, with just £6 and a vision, Stephanie founded Freelance Programmers, later known as FI Group and eventually Xansa, from her dining room table. At a time when women were routinely excluded from technical roles, she built a company that hired almost exclusively women, offering flexible, remote work long before it became mainstream. Some 297 of her first 300 staff were women. To counter gender bias, she signed business correspondence as ‘Steve’, a name that would become synonymous with innovation and inclusion in tech.
In an interview in 2023, Dame Stephanie said: “One of our earliest projects was writing the software for Concorde’s black box: few knew or guessed the task was carried out by a team of women working from their kitchen tables. People, usually men, told me there was no market for a company like ours because software in those days was given away free with the hardware. We proved them wrong.”
Under her leadership, the company grew to employ over 8,000 people. Her teams delivered ground-breaking projects, including software for Concorde’s black box, airline reservation systems, and financial platforms. In 31 years as chief executive, she built Xansa into a leading technology group, included in the FTSE 250 index, officially retiring when the business was sold in 1993 for around £150 million.
Dame Stephanie’s legacy extended far beyond business. Following her retirement, she devoted herself to philanthropy, donating tens of millions of pounds to causes close to her heart, especially autism research, inspired by her son Giles, who had an extreme form of the condition and died at age 35. She founded the Shirley Foundation in 1986, which supported pioneering initiatives such as Prior’s Court School and Autistica, and helped launch the world’s first online autism conference, Autism99.
In 2021, Dame Stephanie and other child refugees who arrived in Britain on the ‘Kindertransport’ urged the British government to establish safe routes for refugees in Europe, especially children, trying to reach the UK or risk tragedies occurring in the Channel. She said the UK was losing its moral authority in the world and urged the then Conservative government to change tack.
Her contributions to society were recognised with numerous honours: she was appointed OBE in 1980, elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2000, and made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2017. She was also the first woman President of the British Computer Society and received the Freedom of the City of London.
Stephanie Shirley’s life was a testament to resilience, vision, and generosity. In her memoir Let It Go, she wrote, “I had to make sure that mine was a life worth saving.” She did so many times over by transforming the tech industry, championing women, and uplifting countless lives through her philanthropy. She proved that business could be both profitable and principled, and that inclusion drives innovation. Her story remains a touchstone for professionals across sectors who seek to lead with vision and impact.
Further reading: Nobel Prize winner Ardem Patapoutian ||
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