Mr. Shapery is the founder of San Diego-based Shapery Enterprises, a real estate holding company involved in the ownership, design, and development of high-rise office buildings, high-rise hotels, commercial centers, and raw land. Emerald Plaza, which he developed on West Broadway in the early 1990s, was architecturally innovative with its futuristic, multi-tower hexagonal design.
Born in Chicago, Mr. Shapery and his family moved to San Diego in 1947 when his father took over a wholesale food distributorship. He graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Political Science and earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law. Mr. Shapery worked as a law clerk with famed attorney Melvin Belli and later argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
On the technology side, Mr. Shapery designed a vertical takeoff aircraft engine system that he developed with the help of a NASA grant. More recently, through his Transportation Systems Corporation, Mr. Shapery is developing advanced transportation infrastructure technology, including zero emissions induction-powered rail and magnetic levitation trains capable of traveling 300 miles an hour on existing railroad platforms. One of his patents has been licensed to the Elon Musk-designed Hyperloop transportation project.
