Richard J. Sharp was a Vice President and Officer in charge of South Central Bell
Telephone Company in Louisiana, now known as AT&T. A native of Whiting, Indiana, Sharp
graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana in 1955 with
a degree in business administration. He also did graduate work at Tulane and Louisiana
State University.
Sharp began his telephone career in 1955 as a supervisor in New Orleans. After holding
various management positions of increasing responsibility in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Tennessee and Alabama, Sharp was appointed Vice President and Chief Executive Officer
of Operations on April 1, 1983.
He served on the Board of Directors of the Business Task Force on Education, Inc.
, YMCA, Council for a Better Louisiana, National Conference of Christians and Jews,
The Chamber/New Orleans and the River Region, and on the Board of Trustees of United
Way, WYES and the Council of Trustees of Gulf South Research Institute. He was also
a member of the World Trade Center of New Orleans, Committee of “50” and the Economic
Development Council Executive Committee, The Louisiana Association of Business and
Industry, Metropolitan Area Committee and the Public Affairs Research Council. He
also served on the Governor’s Committee of “100.”
Dick also served the university briefly as an interim athletic director and chaired
the committee for the return of football. Dick and Glory will always be appreciated
by Southeastern athletes as they enter the Dick and Glory Sharp Academic Center for
Student Athletes, which was established through a generous gift from the Sharps.
Dick and his wife, the former Glory Needham of Pulaski, Tennessee, have four sons.
