Shuman participated in the major events that brought computer forecasting from academic concepts to the foundation of weather prediction.
He entered military service in June 1941, serving during World War II as a weather officer in North Africa and Italy.
As part of his military training, Shuman received a master's degree in meteorology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1942.
After the war, Shuman returned to the Weather Bureau, where he worked as an airways forecaster at Wayne County Airport.
Dr. Shuman became the director of the National Meteorological Center in April 1964 and served for an additional 17 years in the position until his retirement in January 1981.