Former DTM staff member Alan Shapley, the first director of the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), passed away on October 20, 2006. Shapley was a staff member from 1942 to 1946, during which time he worked on the response of the ionosphere to geomagnetic disturbances.

Shapley was a member of the U.S. National Committee for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) from 1953 onwards and served as its Vice Chairman during 1957-1958. He worked with the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards. He was Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Geophysical and Solar Terrestrial Data Center (NGSDC, now NGDC) from 1970 to 1981.

Shapley was the son of astronomer Harlow Shapley. He retired from government service in the 1980s.