John Sharp | |
---|---|
14th Chancellor of The Texas A&M University System | |
Assumed office August 15, 2011 | |
Preceded by | Mike McKinney |
35th Comptroller of Texas | |
In office January 3, 1991 – January 2, 1999 | |
Governor |
Ann Richards George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Bob Bullock |
Succeeded by | Carole Keeton Strayhorn |
Railroad Commissioner of Texas | |
In office January 6, 1987 – January 22, 1991 | |
Governor | Bill Clements |
Preceded by | Clark Jobe |
Succeeded by | Lena Guerrero |
Member of the
Texas Senate from the 18th district | |
In office November 20, 1982 – January 13, 1987 | |
Preceded by | John Wilson |
Succeeded by | Ken Armbrister |
Member of the
Texas House of Representatives from the 40th district | |
In office January 9, 1979 – November 20, 1982 | |
Preceded by | Joe Wyatt Jr. |
Succeeded by | Alex Moreno |
Personal details | |
Born | John Spencer Sharp July 28, 1950 Placedo, Texas, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses | Charlotte Han
(
m. 1978; died 2020)Diana Atchison (
m. 2023) |
Children | 2 |
Education |
Texas A&M University (
BA) Texas State University ( MPA) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1972–1976 |
Rank | Second Lieutenant |
Unit | United States Army Reserve |
John Spencer Sharp (born July 28, 1950) is an American Democratic politician from Texas, who has served since 2011 as the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. From 1991 to 1999, he was the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. From 1979 to 1987, he was a member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature. From 1987 to 1991, he was a commissioner of the Railroad Commission of Texas. In 1998 and 2002, he was the Democratic Party's nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Texas.
Sharp is also a principal in the Austin office of the Dallas-based Ryan & Company, a tax consulting firm. In 2005, he was appointed as chairman of the Texas Tax Reform Commission.
The son of an oil field worker and a school teacher, Sharp grew up in the small farming community of Placedo, Texas. In 1972, Sharp earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Texas A&M University in College Station, where he was a member of Squadron 6 in the Corps of Cadets and was elected Class president his sophomore year, and eventually Student Body President. [1] Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Reserves. He belongs to American Legion [2] Post 76 in Austin.
In 1976, Sharp received a master's degree in Public Administration from Texas State University in San Marcos while working full-time in Austin with the Legislative Budget Board. [3] In 1978, Sharp returned to Victoria, Texas, where he opened a real estate firm [1] with a partner, the former County Commissioner Gene Martin.[ citation needed]
In 1973, started working as an analyst for the Texas Legislative Budget Board. [1] He was selected by the Lt. Governor William P. Hobby Jr. to be on the 10-man committee that implemented zero-based budgeting. [4]
Sharp began his political career as the chief campaign aide in Phil Gramm's campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1975. After being asked by the The Bryan-College Station Eagle why he decided to take the job, he was quoted, "A perfect set of examples is the federal government's involvement with the brucellosis program and forced busing. I think Gramm has the courage to stop things like that." [4]
In 1978, Sharp ran unopposed [5] and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from the 40th District in Victoria and was later named one of the best newcomers to the House by Texas Monthly, along with Bill Messer. [6] Just a few weeks after his re-election for a third two-year term in the general election of 1982, he ran for the seat left open in the Texas Senate in the special election that took place after John Wilson had won re-election despite already being dead. [7]
He won the special election runoff against Tim Von Dohlen and served a full four-year term in the Texas Senate. [8] [5] He was appointed to the several committees, including the Senate Committee on Finance in 1985. [9] He was elected to the Texas Railroad Commission in 1986.
In 1985, while in the state legislature, Sharp proposed a law restricting abortion rights in Texas. [10] Then-State Treasurer Ann Richards helped kill the bill. [11] When he ran for statewide office, Sharp moderated his anti-abortion views. [5]
In 1990, Sharp was elected as the 35th State Comptroller of Public Accounts for the State of Texas. He was re-elected in 1994. In 1998, he did not seek a third term as comptroller but instead lost the race for lieutenant governor to Rick Perry, by 2% of the vote. Government Sharp ran for lieutenant governor again in 2002, but was defeated, losing by 6% to David Dewhurst, then the Land Commissioner. [12]
Upon taking office as Comptroller, Sharp pledged to "make government work more like our most successful businesses." [2] During his eight years as Comptroller, Sharp established the Texas Performance Review (TPR), an ongoing audit on state government. During Sharp's two 4-year terms as Comptroller, the TPR changed the way government does business through the Council on Competitive Government. Other programs implemented under the leadership of Sharp during these eight years included:
As Comptroller, Sharp also commanded the Texas Lottery. He contracted out most of the work, with the state lottery having only 189 employees (compared to California's 1,000 and Florida's 750), [5] He later turned it over to the new Texas Lottery Commission.
In 2005, Sharp was asked to head an education task force – called the Texas Tax Reform Commission – charged with preparing a bi-partisan education plan for the state. The special session convened on April 17, 2006. Sharp accepted the offer and removed himself as a potential candidate for governor in 2006. The task force issued its final plan several months later, and the legislature adopted it. [13] Sharp was nominated for the "Texan of the Year" Award in 2005. [14]
On December 4, 2008, Republican U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announced the creation of an exploratory committee for the Texas governor's race in 2010. Had she won the governorship, Hutchison would have been required to vacate her Senate seat by January 2011. If she were to stay in the Senate and not run for governor, she would have been up for re-election to the Senate in 2012. On December 8, 2008, Sharp became the first Democrat to announce his intention to run for this Senate seat, regardless of Hutchison's decision. Unlike several other candidates for the office, Sharp did not create an exploratory committee but immediately began raising funds and campaigning in 2009. [15] During his campaign for the Senate, he criticized the governor, Rick Perry, for his comments about secession. He said in a statement, "During World War II my father was shot in defense of the greatest country on Earth, and I proudly wore the uniform of a United States Army reserve officer. So I’m offended when it becomes acceptable for anybody to talk about Texas leaving the Union. I’m running for the United States Senate because we need mainstream, common-sense leadership to clean up the mess in Washington, D.C., not a bunch of radical, anti-American rhetoric." [16]
On August 15, 2011, John Sharp was appointed by Governor Rick Perry and the A&M Board of Regents to be chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. At the time, Sharp had never worked in academia. [1] All the members of the Board of Regents that voted to hire Sharp were appointed by Perry. [17]
Sharp outsourced the student dining program, landscaping, maintenance, and custodial services to private companies, which prompted protests for university employees who feared losing their jobs. [1] Sharp leased land owned by Texas A&M to private developers. [1]
In February 2018, two months after Jimbo Fisher was appointed as the head coach of Texas A&M football team, Sharp presented him with a plaque commemorating the Aggies' national championship in the year "20--", telling Fisher, "you get to fill in the date". [21]
On October 1, 2019, Sharp announced a system-wide ban on vaping, writing in the announcement memo that the "health threat is serious enough that I want to see the ban inside every building, outside space, parking lot, garage and laboratory within the Texas A&M System." [22]
On March 7, 2023, a guest lecture by Texas A&M University professor Joy Alonzo at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) criticized Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's role in the opioid crisis. Shortly afterward, Patrick contacted Sharp about Alonzo. [23] [24] Alonzo was placed on administrative leave immediately, and was formally censured by UTMB. The investigation by Texas A&M found no evidence of wrongdoing, and Dr. Alonzo's leave was ended two weeks later. [23] The vice chancellor of marketing and communications for Texas A&M later said Alonzo "had no issue with how the University handled the situation." [25]
As chancellor of The Texas A&M University System, Sharp has been involved with multiple initiatives:
In 1978, he married Charlotte Han. They have a son, Spencer, and a daughter, Victoria. Charlotte died in December 2020. [36]
He owns a 1,600-acre ranch 30 minutes from College Station where he raises cattle and goats. [1]
Sharp has received numerous awards. Texas State University presented Sharp with the "Distinguished Alumni Award" in 1996, where he also taught a course on Texas state government for several semesters in the early 2000s. [37] He was awarded the Texas A&M University Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2018. [38]
In 2022, the City of Bryan renamed State Highway 47 into John Sharp Parkway, due to his service at A&M, the development of the RELLIS campus, and Texas A&M's expansions into the city. [39]
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