Dame Stephanie Shirley was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the national FDM everywoman in Technology Awards at the Savoy Hotel in London on the 19th March 2013. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognises the significant contribution that Dame Stephanie Shirley has made to the industry, her game-changing influence and lifelong passion for inspiring and enabling women to achieve success in technology.

Arriving in this country as an unaccompanied child refuge in 1939 she started (in 1962) a software house that pioneered new work practices and changed the position of professional women, especially in hi-tech. Since retiring in 1993, her focus has been increasingly on philanthropy based on her strong belief in giving back to society. She has donated the majority of her significant wealth to causes from autism to harnessing IT for the public good, with a £10 million gift to Oxford University to launch an Internet Institute and a £5 million donation to secure the future of the Worshipful Company for Information Technologists. An extraordinary role model and visionary, she is a true inspiration to all.