Willis Harlow Shapley (1917-2005)

Willis Harlow Shapley, a longtime member of the Science Service Board of Trustees, died Oct. 24. His family has established the Willis Harlow Shapley Education Fund at Science Service to support science-education programs, including the weekly online publication Science News for Kids.

Shapley served with distinction in the federal government in such areas as budgeting, research and development, national defense, and space. In 1958, he helped craft the act that created NASA. In 1961, he worked on the memorandum that President John F. Kennedy used to initiate the U.S. effort to send a man to the moon. In 1965, he became Associate Deputy Administrator of NASA.

We greatly appreciate Shapley’s tireless service as treasurer of the Science Service Board of Trustees. We will miss his enthusiasm, wry sense of humor, broad interest in science, and deep concern for Science News and the other programs and staff of Science Service. We thank his family for honoring that spirit by supporting our continuing work.

Tax deductible donations to the Willis Harlow Shapley Education Fund may

be sent to Science Service, 1719 N St., NW, Washington, DC 20036, or go to http://www.sciserv.org/shapley/.