Philip Sharp (politician)


Philip Riley Sharp is an American politician and nonprofit executive who served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic representative from Indiana from 1975 to 1995.

Early life and education

Sharp was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1942. He grew up in Elwood, Indiana. After graduating from Wendell Willkie High School in 1960, he attended DePauw University in 1961. He then transferred and graduated cum laude from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1964. He then went on to do graduate work at Exeter College, Oxford University in 1966 before returning to Georgetown University to earn his Ph.D. in 1974, when he was elected to Congress.
From the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and Congressional Archive:
SHARP, Philip Riley, a Representative from Indiana; born in Baltimore, Md., July 15, 1942; attended Washington Elementary School, Elwood, Ind.; graduated from Wendell Willkie High School, Elwood, 1960; attended DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind., 1961; B.S., Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Washington, D.C., 1964; graduate work, Exeter College, Oxford University, 1966; Ph.D., Georgetown University, 1974; aide to United States Senator Vance Hartke, 1964-1969; assistant and later associate professor, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind., 1969-1974; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fourth and to the nine succeeding Congresses ; not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fourth Congress.

Later years

During his years in Congress, Sharp participated in the passage of major energy legislation. As chairman of the Energy and Power Subcommittee, he played key roles in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and the 1992 Energy Policy Act. He was a member of the National Research Council
Committee on Effectiveness and Impact of Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards, which issued its major report in 2001. He also chaired the Secretary of Energy's Electric Systems Reliability Task Force, which issued its major report in 1998.
In 1988 and 1990, Sharp defeated future U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. Those are the only two elections that Mike Pence has lost as of 2020. Sharp chose not to seek re-election in the 1994 elections, and was succeeded by Republican David M. McIntosh.
Sharp went on to serve as director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2005, he became president of the nonpartisan think tank Resources for the Future in Washington, D.C.
Sharp serves on the Board of Directors of the Duke Energy Corporation and as vice chair on the Board of the Energy Foundation. He is the congressional chair for the National Commission on Energy Policy, is a member of The National Academies’ Committee on America’s Climate Choices and the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. Before joining RFF, Sharp was Senior Policy Advisor of the Washington, DC based law and public policy firm Van Ness Feldman.