A former Texas state comptroller was named as the sole finalist on Monday in the search for a new chancellor of the Texas A&M University system, reports The Eagle, of Bryan and College Station, Tex.
John Sharp, a Democrat who served as student-body president on the College Station flagship four decades ago, will replace Michael D. McKinney, who retired June 30. (Jay Kimbrough has been serving as interim chancellor.) The departing chancellor was a former chief of staff to the state’s governor, Rick Perry, now a Republican candidate for U.S. president, and helped put into effect some of his controversial ideas, including measuring faculty productivity using a cost-benefit analysis.
Over the years, Mr. Sharp has been a friend, political rival, and close associate of Mr. Perry, who was in the same Corps of Cadets unit with him at Texas A&M in the late 1960s, the San Antonio Express-News reports.
The system’s Board of Regents voted unanimously for Mr. Sharp, although the appointment won’t be official for three weeks.
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