\nFormer COE dean Bert Sharp, who led UF’s College of Education
\nthrough the turbulent and transformative 1970s, died Aug. 31 in Naples. He was
\n81.\n<\/p>\n
\nSharp was a professor in the Counselor Education department
\nin 1968, when he was catapulted into the dean’s position by the tragic death of
\nthen-dean Kimball Wiles, who was killed in a car accident.\n<\/p>\n
\nSharp’s position, in those early days, was \u00a0 a
\nchallenging one. As he took the helm, Florida was experiencing a severe teacher
\nshortage, placing pressure on UF to produce more graduates. Teachers across the
\nstate, fed up with education cuts, staged a walkout—making it impossible for
\nthe college to place interns in most schools. On top of those challenges, Sharp
\ninherited from his predecessor an ambitious plan to change the COE into a
\nresearch institution worthy of nationwide respect.\n<\/p>\n
\nHe met all these challenges and more. During Sharp’s tenure,
\nnational ranking systems were showing UF in the top tier of education colleges.<\/p>\n
The college experienced a boom in minority enrollment, and hired its first
\nAfrican-American professors. And the college built the Norman Hall Annex—the
\nset of buildings now know as “New Norman”—doubling the size of the college’s
\nphysical space. \u00a0 By the time Sharp stepped down to return to teaching in
\n1978, the College of Education was transformed forever.\n<\/p>\n
\n“The college flourished under him, in what were really tough
\ntimes,” said Professor Emeritus Joe Wittmer, who chaired the Counselor
\nEducation department during Sharp’s term as dean. “Teaching is a cyclical
\nprofession, and there were certainly some ‘down’ years in the 1970s, but Bert
\nkept things going very well.”\n<\/p>\n
\nAn expert in assessment and measurement in psychology, Sharp
\ntaught counselor education courses for a number of years after his term as
\ndean. Before his career at UF, Sharp worked in K-12 schools in Mississippi and
\nAlabama, and was a professor at Auburn University. Among other professional
\nassociations, he was president of the National Association of Colleges of
\nTeacher Education.\n<\/p>\n