Texas A&M system chancellor John Sharp has announced he will retire, effective June 30, 2025.
Sharp sent an e-mail stating in part that “soon it will be time for this Chancellor to disappear around the bend. I will move to Austin to spend more time with my daughter Victoria, son Spencer, and Diana’s and my grandchildren.”
Sharp also said “While I am retiring from this job, I will find ways to continue to serve the great state I love.”
He also said “I will never retire from work, and I look forward to telling you next year about the next phase of Diana’s and my life work. One thing is for certain, I will never be too busy or too old to help Texas A&M and the A&M System.”
Sharp began his run as the A&M system’s longest serving chancellor in September 2011. The 1972 A&M graduate served as student body president. He later served in the Texas House the Texas Senate, the Texas Railroad Commission, and two terms as state comptroller.
Click below to hear comments from John Sharp, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver.
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Statement from John Sharp:
Colleagues and friends,
I notified the Board of Regents several weeks ago that this coming year will be my final year as Chancellor of The Texas A&M University System. My retirement will be effective June 30, 2025.
By then, I will have served almost 14 years in this position. Leading this grand enterprise has been one of the great privileges of my life, a challenge, and an honor.
I feel a deep sense of gratitude to all of you who have shown confidence in me and contributed to our collective endeavor. Together we have lifted the Texas A&M System to historic heights.
I thank the 21 regents who I have faithfully served, and I thank those past and present who have served with me: the presidents of 11 universities, the CEOs of eight state agencies, the members of my executive committee; our students, faculty, and staff.
I thank our supporters at the Chancellor’s Century Council and in the Texas Legislature; Governors Greg Abbott and Rick Perry; Lt. Governors Dan Patrick and David Dewhurst; Texas Speakers Joe Straus, Dennis Bonnen, and Dade Phelan; and members of the Texas Congressional delegation.
With your assistance, we have become one of the genuinely great university systems in the world.
We have increased enrollment more than 25 percent during a time when too many people are questioning the value of a college education. We added a law school that has risen faster in the national rankings than any other in history. We consolidated the state’s disaster response and recovery by adding the Texas Division of Emergency Management as our 8th state agency.
We increased our National Academy memberships five-fold, and our research expenditures now exceed $1 billion a year. And the past 13 years have seen a historic building boom with $11.4 billion for 306 projects.
Texas A&M University, in particular, has become the school of choice, with one of the biggest student enrollments in the nation. Texas A&M is no longer anybody’s little brother.
Despite the remarkable things we have accomplished, I am proudest of the fact that our culture, our traditions, and the patriotic fervor of our students remain intact. We reflect the great traditions and culture of the state of Texas.
Best of all, the next 12 months have the potential to be the most remarkable year of all. The System is a movable feast of innovation at Texas A&M-RELLIS, the new Fort Worth campus, the McAllen Teaching Center, the Port in Brownsville, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and elsewhere.
Stay tuned. There is more innovation in the works as we continuously strive to serve Texas and the nation.
Whatever I have accomplished, I owe much to the love of my family and friends. I thank you for the outpouring of support when Charlotte passed in 2020. I also thank you for extending your friendship to Diana, who has been steadfast in her support of me and the Texas A&M System.
While the road goes on forever and the party never ends, soon it will be time for this Chancellor to disappear around the bend. I will move to Austin to spend more time with my daughter Victoria, son Spencer, and Diana’s and my grandchildren.
While I am retiring from this job, I will find ways to continue to serve the great state I love.
I will never retire from work, and I look forward to telling you next year about the next phase of Diana’s and my life work. One thing is for certain, I will never be too busy or too old to help Texas A&M and the A&M System.
I have been blessed with more years as Chancellor than I had imagined back in 2011. I feel like, together, we have accomplished remarkable things and built momentum for future generations.
We are blessed to have our best set of university presidents and agency CEOs ever.
We are blessed to have a Board of Regents committed to thoughtfully choosing our next chancellor, and I offer them my steadfast support.
As always, I thank you for your support.
News release from the Texas A&M system:
Porter Garner jokes that he is not sure John Sharp ever sleeps.
“It’s not uncommon to get a text from John late at night, or at four in the morning,” said Garner, longtime president of The Association of Former Students at Texas A&M University. “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 our university.”
“He’s the best chancellor we’ve ever had,” Garner added. “No chancellor in history has ever advanced Texas A&M and the Texas A&M University System like John Sharp has.”
Garner is among the Texans praising the era of the longest serving chancellor in the history of the Texas A&M System. Sharp announced Monday that he will retire as chancellor in 12 months.
“Texas is grateful for Chancellor John Sharp’s unwavering commitment to improving higher education in the State of Texas,” Governor Greg Abbott said. “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.”
Sharp, who became Chancellor in September 2011, sent a letter Monday thanking past and present regents, system employees and elected officials for their years of support.
“Leading this grand enterprise has been one of the great privileges of my life,” Sharp said. “I feel a deep sense of gratitude to all of you who have shown confidence in me and contributed to our collective endeavor. Together we have lifted the Texas A&M System to historic heights.”
The Board of Regents will conduct a national search in the coming months for Sharp’s successor, said Chairman Bill Mahomes.
“It’s an understatement to say we have giant boots to fill,” said Mahomes, a regent since 2015. “John Sharp is an Aggie icon – bigger than life – and we all are the beneficiaries of his bold leadership. He has made the System smarter, more innovative, and more responsive to the needs of Texans in every corner of the state.”
Phil Adams, who served on the Board of Regents during the first 10 years of Sharp’s tenure, applauded the breadth of Sharp’s accomplishments.
“The A&M System has become a dynamo nationally since John Sharp became chancellor,” Adams said. “He has had more vision, energy, and know-how than anyone else. Every year he had a big idea, and it got done.”
Some of the Sharp era achievements:
• A historic building boom with $11.4 billion for 306 projects that improved facilities at all 11 System universities and eight state agencies.
• The Chancellor’s Research Initiative built up key research fields by recruiting elite faculty. With additional support from the Governor’s University Research Initiative, the effort has led to a five-fold boost in faculty who are national research leaders as evidenced by membership in the elite National Academies in engineering, science, and medicine.
• The transformation of Riverside Campus into Texas A&M-RELLIS, a high-tech hub of research labs and test ranges to innovate for national defense and a variety of other needs. With backing from the U.S. Army Futures Command and numerous other outside stakeholders, the System and the state invested over $1 billion at RELLIS in the past eight years. The campus also includes an innovative academic component.
• The acquisition and growth of the Texas A&M School of Law, which has risen faster in national rankings than any law school in history. It is now considered No. 2 in Texas.
• The construction and renovation of athletic facilities throughout the System, most notably Kyle Field. Reopened in 2015 with more than 102,000 seats, it is the fourth biggest football stadium in the nation and the biggest in the SEC.
• The 10-year agreement to co-manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory, helping with lab management, nuclear operations and national security and scientific research.
In his letter, Sharp noted proudly that “Texas A&M, in particular, has grown to become the school of choice, with one of the biggest enrollments in the nation” while “our culture, our traditions, and the patriotic fervor of our students remain intact. We reflect the great traditions and culture of the state of Texas.”
Sharp earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas A&M in 1972. He was a member of the Corps staff of the Corps of Cadets, and he was elected student body president.
Before becoming chancellor, he had decades of public service, beginning in 1978 when he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. He later was elected to serve in the Texas Senate, on the Texas Railroad Commission and twice as state comptroller.
Twice Sharp played critical roles in debates on the future of taxation and state finance in Texas.
In 1991, with the state government facing looming deficits, Sharp, as the newly elected Comptroller of Public Accounts, issued a performance report (Breaking the Mold) that found billions of dollars in efficiencies to sidestep the crisis.
Again in 2006, Sharp – by then out of office – was called by his old college friend and political rival, Governor Rick Perry, to lead a tax reform commission and resolve a school finance crisis that threatened to close public schools. The commission created a business tax in lieu of an income tax.
“I killed the income tax twice,” Sharp said.
Perry was not the only governor to call on Sharp.
In 2017, Governor Greg Abbott named Sharp as the leader of the Commission to Rebuild Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Sharp accepted the challenge and the unpaid position while continuing to serve as the chancellor of the A&M System.
“Chancellor Sharp rose to the occasion and helped ensure victims received all the necessary resources to recover,” Abbott said.
Later, the state decided to improve coordination of disaster response by adding the Texas Division of Emergency Management to the A&M System as its eighth state agency.
“I thank Chancellor Sharp for his dedication to chartering a brighter future for Texas,” Abbott said, “and I am proud of the work we achieved together for students across our great state and for all Texans.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called Sharp “a Texas institution.”
“Throughout his 45 years of public service in many different roles, Chancellor Sharp learned and perfected how to get things done in Austin,” Patrick said. “In his years as Texas A&M Chancellor he was a fierce advocate for the Aggies and will leave an indelible mark on higher education in Texas long after his retirement. Chancellor Sharp is ever a maverick; he managed to keep me on my toes throughout my time as a public servant. I always enjoyed our meetings and dealings. He is truly one of a kind and I thank him for his public service.”
Former Speaker Dennis Bonnen placed Sharp in the pantheon of Aggie leadership.
“Texas A&M has had many great leaders like Sul Ross and James Earl Rudder, each leaving behind a legacy that reverberates through the character and values of Texas A&M,” Bonnen said. “As John Sharp’s tenure draws to a close, he steps into the history pages of this elite class of Aggie leaders, adding an indelible chapter of transformational advancements and life-changing achievements. His practical and enthusiastic guidance, driven by the spirit of the 12th Man, has forever changed Texas A&M and made our state and country safer and more prosperous for generations to come. I am grateful to Chancellor Sharp and his family for his many years of service to this great institution and the State of Texas.”
In his letter, Sharp said, “While I am retiring from this job, I will find ways to continue to serve the great state I love.”
He added, “One thing is for certain, I will never be too busy or too old to help Texas A&M and the Texas A&M System.”
