Shirley has been the Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University since January 2006.

She is a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England Board (HEFCE), the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education Europe Board, and the Universities & Colleges Employers Association Board. Shirley is also a Board member and Trustee of the Council for Industry and Higher Education, and co-chair of their Task Force on R&D.

Shirley chairs HEFCE’s Research & Innovation Strategic Advisory Committee and Review Group on Philanthropic Giving to HE, and she is a member of HEFCE’s UK Healthcare Education Advisory Committee and Matched Funding Scheme for Voluntary Giving Advisory Group.

Shirley also chairs the National Students’ Unions Evaluation Initiative (SUEI) Accreditation panel, and she is a member of the Universities UK (UUK) Longer Term Strategy Group and the TOP Foundation Board.

She was previously Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of East Anglia responsible for the health and professional schools, where she led the successful bid for a new medical school for the East of England. Prior to that Shirley held an academic post in Psychology at University College London. She was also Deputy Chair of the Healthcare Commission until 2007. Shirley was awarded the CBE in 2005 for services to education in the NHS.