John Sharp is retiring as chancellor of the Texas A&M University System in June 2025.
Sharp, 73, oversaw the system through aggressive expansion as well as efforts to revamp academics and athletics, officials said.
In an interview, Sharp boasted that his proudest achievement is that “nobody considers us anybody’s little brother anymore,” a reference to the rival University of Texas System.
When Sharp first got the job in 2011, he thought he would work as chancellor for three to five years, or “however long it takes me to get a law school.” But he’ll step down next summer as the longest serving chancellor after 14 years.
The Fort Worth law school — which the system acquired in 2013 — is among his accomplishments along with ongoing construction in that city to expand A&M’s reach with additional offerings to address workforce needs by collaborating with local industries.
“We become the school of choice for Texas kids,” he said of the system’s schools.
The system’s board of regents will conduct a national search to find the next chancellor who will take over the system at a time when state leaders are critical of higher education. Some have said they want to end faculty tenure in Texas, which recently banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state colleges and universities.
Sharp was no stranger to politics.
A conservative Democrat born in Placedo, he served in the Texas House from 1979 to 1983 before moving across the Capitol to the Texas Senate from 1983 to 1987. He then was on the Texas Railroad Commission before serving as the state’s comptroller until 1998.
He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1998 and 2002, losing to Rick Perry and David Dewhurst, respectively.
An Aggie himself, Sharp was student body president and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas A&M in 1972. He was a longtime friend — though sometime rival — of Perry, who attended the university at the same time as Sharp. It was then-Gov. Perry’s appointed board of regents who selected Sharp as chancellor.
Under Sharp, the system’s enrollment increased by 25%, with the flagship campus in College Station increasing by 50%. In Dallas, the system’s footprint is expanding as Texas A&M University-Commerce grows its offerings from its satellite location off Central Expressway.
The system grew to over 150,000 students across 11 universities, a health science center and nearly a dozen state agencies — including the Texas Division of Emergency Management that joined the system in 2019.
Sharp oversaw the transformation of the former Riverside campus into A&M RELLIS, a high-tech facility that “every person in the Pentagon knows about,” he said, referring to the reputation of the campus’ research on national defense.
Aggie fans touted Sharp’s aggressive focus on bolstering the system, from expansion plans to higher visibility for its schools. For example, in the latest legislative session, he secured more than $1 billion in funding for the system.
Sharp is “the best chancellor we’ve ever had,” Porter Garner, president of A&M’s association of former students, said in a press release.
“It’s not uncommon to get a text from John late at night, or at four in the morning,” Garner said. “He has some new idea or concept he’d like to discuss. Ultimately, it is about A&M, to benefit our students, our former students and our university.”
Gov. Greg Abbott praised Sharp in a press release for the chancellor’s “unwavering” commitment to improving higher education across the state.
“His extraordinary leadership throughout his time as Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System provided young Texans with the tools they need to thrive in our booming economy,” Abbott said.
Following retirement, Sharp will move to Austin to spend time with his children and grandchildren.
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