When W.G. Douglas Sharp retired after 31 years of teaching at WSU, he reported, “I’ve got my rod and reel, so I’m ready to go. And if I get bored, I’ll go greet at Wal-Mart.” Sharp, whose tenure at WSU featured a 13-year stint as business school dean (1977-1990), moved from Wichita to his retirement home outside Branson, Mo., in 2000.
Among the business school’s milestones under Sharp’s leadership as dean are these: a reorganization of majors, more than doubling the number of areas of study; the formation of the accountancy school, one of the first in the nation to offer an accountancy program in which students could earn both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees after five years; the establishment of the Center for Entrepreneurship; an emphasis on faculty research, which grew two-fold; and the naming of the school, W. Frank Barton School of Business, after a $12 million gift was secured to help the school grow. “I’ve gotten my kicks out of seeing whatever organization I’m in grow and develop,” Sharp once remarked.
His years at Wichita State also included three years as associate dean of the business school, one year as interim dean and eight years as director of the school of accountancy. He was active in many professional associations, as well as community organizations, including serving as president of the Kansas Foundation for the Handicapped.
Doug Sharp died May 28 in Reeds Spring, Mo.
