One of his greatest successes was helping bring the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta. He and several friends combined southern hospitality and an aggressive business sense to keep Georgia on the minds of the Olympic Committee. With his leadership, Atlanta’s bid beat out favorites like Athens, Toronto, and Melbourne.

As a lawyer, he led the Atlanta Bar Association’s response to a series of 25 murders of young African-American boys in the 1980s. Outraged by these deaths, Shaffer helped raise tens of thousands of dollars to support local police who were involved in the investigation.  Shaffer was one of Atlanta’s leading trial lawyers, with a career that lasted 37 years. Much of his work was with mega-corporations such as General Motors, Brown & Williamson, and UPS. He grew up in Chapel Hill as part of a family with lengthy ties to the University. Five generations of his family have attended UNC, and his father was the University’s Director of Development from the time the University created the position. He was a leader in all aspects of campus life — class president for two years, Old Well, Golden Fleece, Phi Beta Kappa, and nominee for the Rhodes Scholarship. As an athlete, he played junior varsity football and earned three letters as a basketball player on some of Dean Smith’s early teams.

Shaffer said that his experiences as a Morehead Scholar still drive him.

"There's an obligation to live up to the honor," said Shaffer, who attended UNC when John Motley Morehead was still living. "There's no pressure from the Morehead Foundation, but it's something I felt in college and still feel today. It's an honor you carry."

Shaffer still feels a sense of obligation to the University. He is Co-Chair of the Carolina First fundraising campaign.  "The Morehead meant to me that for the rest of your life, you need to make the most of this fabulous opportunity you've been given," Shaffer says. "Not a day goes by that my education at Carolina doesn't have an impact on what I do."  In 2002, he became president and CEO of the Marcus Institute, an Atlanta-based center for children with developmental disabilities and severely challenging behaviors.

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