Dagmar Dolby

Dagmar Dolby is the widow of surround sound pioneer Ray Dolby, who died in 2013 at age 80. He founded Dolby Laboratories in the United Kingdom in 1965, moving the company to San Francisco in 1976. The company transformed the way movies and television sounded when it came on the scene, and its technologies have since been used in thousands of films and products. The firm expanded into developing sound technology for home entertainment, video games and mobile devices. Dagmar owns roughly half of the company's stock through family trusts and a limited partnership; her two sons share voting power over some of the holdings. Son David joined the board in 2011 after spending three years managing the company's strategic partnerships. Dagmar graduated from Heidelberg University in her native Germany. She met her future husband in 1962 while studying in a summer program at Cambridge University. The Dolby family has donated $36 million to support stem cell research at the University of California, San Francisco, and a total of $23 million to California Pacific Medical Center and the Alzheimer's Association for research and treatment of the disease. Dagmar has also been a pro-choice advocate for more than 20 years. In July 2014 the family donated $5 million to help build the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Dolby posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in early 2015.