The Milfred L. Sharp Endowed Lectureship in Leadership has been established to provide funding for leadership opportunities for the students of Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Three objectives were set for this lectureship:

1) To continue to provide students with the opportunity to formalize, with collegiate study and credit, the investigation and examination of leadership as an art and science;

2) to seek out and recruit freshman leadership candidates for the benefit of a collegiate leadership experience; and

3) to increase the educational and performance opportunities available to Northwestern Oklahoma State University faculty and students as it pertains to leadership pedagogy.

“Mel Sharp was a successful student and has been an extremely effective business leader,” said Skeeter Bird, CEO, Northwestern Foundation & Alumni Association. “He has led at some of the highest levels in the private sector to include companies like Boeing and BAE Systems. It is a source of great pride for us that Mel has chosen to invest in our future leaders with this generous endowment.”

Sharp, originally from Dacoma, graduated from Northwestern in 1954 with a mathematics major and physical education minor. He accomplished a highly-successful career in business and was named Northwestern’s Outstanding Grad in the Humanitarian category in 1987. Sharp was inducted into the Northwestern Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

Sharp and his wife, Marnie, reside in southern California.

For more information about the Milfred L. Sharp Endowed Lectureship in Leadership, or about investing in Northwestern students, contact Bird at 580-327-8593 or email at [email protected].