Texas A&M System
Chancellor John Sharp delivers remarks at the groundbreaking of the Texas A&M Law and Education Building last year. Behind him, from left, are A&M System Chair Bill Mahomes, Mayor Mattie Parker, Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare, Texas A&M President M. Katherine Banks, Tarleton State President James Hurley, and John Goff.
John Sharp, we hardly knew ye.
News broke on Monday morning that our new friend, the longest-serving chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, was planning to step into a well-deserved retirement on June 30, 2025.
However, with the Texas A&M-Fort Worth Tier 1 campus under construction, his legacy will be felt here forever. The vision is transformational.
“John Sharp embraced the development of a significant A&M-Fort Worth campus from our first meeting,” said John Goff, chairman of the Fort Worth Tarrant County Innovation Partnership, in an email. “He has now involved expertise from many departments, state agencies as well as his board.
“While we will certainly miss John’s direct involvement after his retirement, we are not concerned of his vision not being completely fulfilled. This will be one of his lasting legacies.”
Sharp, 73, in collaboration with school, city, and county leaders, announced in 2022 the A&M system's intention to build a $350 million campus in downtown Fort Worth. That figure grew when the system's board voted to increase the size and budget of the Law and Education Building currently under construction.
The increase was in response to greater-than-expected demand for space there.
Texas A&M System
The Law and Education Building is expected to be completed by January 2026.
The now-approximately 225,000-square-foot building — an estimated nine floors — will house programs in law, engineering, business and health sciences, among others. After breaking ground last June, it is slated for completion by January 2026. Two other facilities, the Research and Innovation building and the Gateway conference center and offices, will also be constructed in the years to follow. Those will be financed with city-issued bonds secured by leases to the A&M System and private sector development firms.
“The A&M System is making a Texas-sized commitment to Fort Worth,” Sharp said at the announcement of the campus in 2022. “Welcome to Aggieland North.”
The campus soon took on a formal name, Texas A&M-Fort Worth.
“There is so much opportunity for the Texas A&M System to serve Fort Worth, Tarrant County and all of North Texas, we had to go bigger and taller in the first building,” Sharp said at the time the board increased the size of the Law and Education Building.
The Board of Regents will conduct a national search in the coming months for Sharp’s successor, said Chairman Bill Mahomes.
Sharp, a former elected official who ran an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor in 1998, became chancellor in September 2011.
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.
He sent a letter Monday thanking past and present regents, system employees and elected officials for their years of support.
He is being called Texas A&M’s greatest leader.
Under Sharp, the College Station flagship ballooned into the nation’s largest university, with more than 77,000 students — an increase of more than 50% since he stepped into his role.
“He’s the best chancellor we’ve ever had,” said Porter Garner, longtime president of The Association of Former Students at Texas A&M University. “No chancellor in history has ever advanced Texas A&M and the Texas A&M University System like John Sharp has.”
Among his achievements was a building boom that includes $11.4 billion for 306 projects that improved facilities at all 11 system universities and eight state agencies.
The Chancellor’s Research Initiative in conjunction with the Governor’s University Research Initiative, has led to a five-fold boost in faculty who are national research leaders.
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.
Texas A&M’s beginnings in Fort Worth began with its acquisition of the Texas Wesleyan Law School in 2012. Since that transaction, the law school has bolted up national rankings, today ranked No. 26 in the nation and No. 2 in the state.
Goff noted on Monday the impact Texas A&M-Fort Worth is already having with the city hosting the Texas Division of Emergency Management Convention at the end of May. The Texas Division of Emergency Management is a component of the Texas A&M System.
More than 4,000 attendees, presenters, local, state, federal, and private sector emergency responders and emergency managers participated in workshops and exhibits.
According to Visit Fort Worth, the impact on hotels was more than 3,400 room nights, boosting hotel occupancy in the city by 14%. Business revenue impact was $4.3 million.
“There had been talk about building a new law school building for a while,” Ahdieh said to Fort Worth Inc. last year. “Frankly, as I got to know Fort Worth and A&M [when he took the job 5 1/2 years ago], it was so clear to me that there was opportunity that was bigger than that.
“If there was an opportunity for A&M to use this location as a platform for a broader engagement with industry, with Fort Worth and all of North Texas that was a huge win for A&M. And on the Fort Worth side, there was this hole, this lack of strong Tier 1 research, academic programs, and workforce trends.”
Ahdieh and Goff, then co-chair of Fort Worth Now, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price’s COVID task force designed to assist private business through the pandemic, had spoken briefly about it.
Goff asked for another meeting at his office.
“We had lunch in this room,” Goff said. “He’s a fireball; lots of energy. He does wonderful things for that university.”
Goff asked to go to the site, to step out on the roof, and look over the property.
“We went onto the roof,” Ahdieh recalled. “Here I am taking this billionaire crawling through this crawl space. But he was excited to get up there. He said, ‘This is a no-brainer. This is exactly what we need.’
“He brought vision to the table, and he’s ready to do the legwork.”
Goff set up a meeting with Sharp in College Station. Goff said he was bringing Price, the mayor, with him.
“I didn’t tell him what it was about,” Goff said. “I had never met John. I sat right next to him. This was in the height of Covid. He had 20-30 people in the room. I go through this presentation. Afterward, he leans over and says, ‘I love this. I’m going to do it. We’re going to figure this out.’ We shook hands and away we went.”
An Aggie handshake is a solemn vow.
John Sharp, we thankee.