James Franklin Sharp grew up in Chester, Illinois, a small Mississippi River Town in southwest Illinois. He graduated from Chester High School in 1954.
He then attended the two-year Pre-Engineering Program at nearby Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. At SIU, he lived in Doyle Dorm, that housed just 60 boys, and was conveniently located adjacent to the compact SIU campus at that time. It had a popular cafeteria and snack shop. Interesting that Doyle Dorm was next to what was then the home of SIU President Morris, that became the location of the Sharp Museum many years later. He liked his small classes at SIU, that were mostly taught by top Professors, including Head of Mathematics, Head of Physics, and Head of Economics. He enjoyed participating in 7 different intramural sports at SIU: Football, Corkball, Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, Horseshoes, and Badminton. He liked learning Boxing, Gymnastics, and Track & Field in SIU Physical Education Classes. He also enjoyed being a member of Theta Xi Fraternity. He had a great time at SIU. And is giving back.
After SIU, he transferred to University of Illinois and received a BSIE in Industrial Engineering. Then at Purdue University he received a MSIE and PhD in Industrial Engineering & Management Science. After Purdue he was a Professor for 10 years at Rutgers, NYU, and Pace, and had AT&T management positions for 10 years in Internal Consulting, Corporate Planning, and Financial Analysis. He then founded Sharp Seminars In NY, that became a major provider of training for Wall Street Analysts and Portfolio Managers, until the Pandemic.
Professor Sharp lives and works in New York City. He has become a successful long-term stock market investor and philanthropist. He has made major donations to SIU. At SIU he has been honored with the naming of the Sharp Museum, along with the placement of his photo on the new SIU Donor Recognition Wall of Fame in the new Tedrick Welcome Center.
SIU 44,000 square feet Tedrick Welcome Center was dedicated on May 1, 2026. Professor Sharp was very pleasantly surprised to then learn he was one of the initial group of 8 Significant SIU Donors honored on its new Donor Recognition Wall of Fame in Tedrick Welcome Center.