A native of New York, Shapiro graduated from
Brooklyn Technical High School in New York City. He later received his
B.A. in
Mathematics from
Cornell University, and later a
M.A. and
Ph.D in
Physics from
Harvard University. He joined the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's
Lincoln Laboratory in 1954 and became a professor of physics there in 1967. In 1982, he took a position as professor and
Guggenheim Fellow at his alma mater, Harvard, and also became director of the
Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. In 1997, he became the first Timken University Professor at the university. In 1981,
Edward Bowell discovered the
3832 main belt asteroid and it was later named after Shapiro by his former student
Steven J. Ostro. ==Recognition==