Former Comptroller to Become A&M Chancellor
Former Texas State Comptroller John Sharp has been named the lone finalist for the position of Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. Photo by Daniel Reese for KUT News. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Texas A&M University System is three weeks away from having a new leader.
Former State Comptroller John Sharp has been named the lone finalist for Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.
“Everything that I am about, every success I have ever had in my life can go back to one place: Texas A&M University,” Sharp said.
The last chairman of the A&M System, Mike McKinney, left the job in June. McKinney has said his departure was at least partly the result of him pushing back against higher education reforms championed by Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The chairman of A&M’s Board of Regents, Richard Box, did not mention those reforms when listing the reasons why the board wants to hire Sharp.
“He knows the state budget very well,” Box said. “He can handle a system budget. And he knows members of the legislature. He’s a well-known entity and he can get things done over here for us.”
Sharp is a Democrat with close ties to Governor Perry. For one thing, they were college roommates at Texas A&M.
Regents are legally required to wait 21 days before they can officially name Sharp as chancellor.
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