Willis Shapley, A Force In U.S. Science Policy, Dies At 88

Willis H. Shapley, a former official for NASA and the U.S. Bureau of the Budget and long-term consultant to AAAS, died in Washington, D.C., on 24 October. He was 88.

In 1975, the AAAS Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy and AAAS Executive Officer William D. Carey called on Shapley to prepare a report describing the federal budget process as it applies to research and development (R&D) and analyzing the R&D components of President Gerald Ford’s proposed fiscal year 1977 budget. In the words of Carey, with whom Shapley had worked for many years at the Bureau of the Budget (BOB), the objectives of the report were “to try to make the budget process comprehensible” to scientists, to provide a “framework . . . on which to base constructive critiques” of the process, and to stimulate discussions of R&D in the budget among scientists and policymakers.

This report subsequently served as the basis for a “Colloquium on Research and Development in the Federal Budget” in June 1976. And it became the starting point for the internationally known AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year.

Shapley remained at AAAS for the next 10 years, working with AAAS staff
who subsequently took over the R&D Budget and Policy Program.

“Willis was my mentor in budget analysis at AAAS,” said Al Teich, director of Science & Policy at AAAS. “His understanding of the internal working of government, his uncanny ability to ferret out information from budget and appropriations documents that were designed to obscure rather than enlighten, and his skill at writing clearly, concisely, quickly and with precision, were invaluable assets for AAAS. Working with Willis deepened and enriched my understanding of the policy process and helped shape my perspective on science and the federal government."

Although he was not widely known outside the federal government, Shapley played a central role in a number of critical developments shaping federal science policy. He joined the Bureau of the Budget (the precursor to the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB) in 1942 and was a principal architect of the federal government’s R&D budgeting system, as well as a key participant in designing the National Science Foundation.

Shapley’s 1958 White House memo recommending that the government embark on a program of space exploration was influential in the formation of NASA. He served as associate deputy administrator of NASA from 1965 until his retirement in 1975. Shapley returned to his previous job at NASA after the Challenger disaster in 1986, retiring again in 1988, but continuing as a consultant until 1992.

The Shapley family had other ties to AAAS. Willis’s father, Harlow Shapley, a renowned astronomer, was president of AAAS in 1947. His daughter, Deborah, served as a reporter for Science from 1971 to 1979.

A memorial gathering will be held at the Cosmos Club in Washington at 2:30 p.m. on Friday 2 December. It will be followed by a reception. Memorial donations may be made to the Willis Harlow Shapley Fund at Science Service, 1719 N Street, NW, Washington, D.C., 20036.