Robert Phillip Sharp (24 June 1911 – 25 May 2004) was an Americangeomorphologist and expert on thegeological surfaces of theEarth and the planetMars.[1][2][3] Sharp served as the chairman of the Division of Geological Sciences atCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) from 1952 to 1968.[4] He built the modern department and especially recruited new faculty ingeochemistry,tectonic geomorphology,planetary science, and field geology.
Sharp specialized ingeomorphology and published heavily in glacial terrain (theSierra Nevada,Blue Glacier in theOlympic Peninsula, andAlaska),Mojave Desert terrain, and theRuby-EastHumboldt Range in north-centralNevada. Sharp retired in 1979 but continued leading geological field trips afterwards (with emphasis on theGrand Canyon geology usingrubber rafts).
Sharp was a native son ofOxnard, California.[5][6] He attended Caltech as an undergraduate, beginning in 1930, earning a bachelor's degree (1934) in geology, and master's degree (1935) in geology. While at Caltech, he was quarterback on the football team.
He received a doctorate atHarvard University (1938) in geology under ProfessorKirk Bryan.[7]
Sharp served in theUnited States Army during World War II as an analyst in the Arctic, Desert and Tropical Information Center and achieved the rank of captain. During World War II, Sharp performed extensive field work in theAleutian Islands of the Alaskan Peninsula, simultaneously testing newarctic clothing forsoldiers, and quietly performinggeological mapping of several islands, which he published in theBulletin of the Geological Society of America.
Sharp was briefly an instructor in geology at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign before World War II, and briefly an Assistant Professor of Geology at theUniversity of Minnesota immediately after the war. As soon as possible, Caltech's Division Chairman Ian Campbell arranged for Sharp to return home to Caltech as a full professor in 1947. Sharp remained at Caltech for the next half-century, and was quickly promoted to the Chairman of the Division of Geological Sciences, later renamed to the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. At Caltech, Sharp mentored dozens of doctoral students in fieldgeomorphology; these are now working at the United States Geological Survey facility inMenlo Park, California and in leading geology departments throughoutNorth America.
Sharp became a published expert on the glacial geomorphology of the Sierra Nevada range, the Trinity Alps of northwestern California, theOlympic Peninsula of Washington, andMount Saint Elias in theFairweather Range of Alaska. In the winter season, he focused his geological field work in the Mojave Desert of California, with emphasis on the geomorphology ofCima Dome, and the sliding stones on theRacetrack Playa in northernDeath Valley.
He was an expert on the physics of blown sand and the formation ofsand dunes in the Mojave Desert and theCoachella Valley. He was awarded the Kirk Bryan Award by theGeological Society of America for his work on the geomorphology of sand dunes in desert terrain.
Sharp loved weekend field trips, and so he authored a number of field books in geology ofsouthern California, published by Mountain Press. While in his sixties, Sharp continued to teach field geology to Caltech geology students during summer classes atHenry Mountain inUtah, whereGrove Karl Gilbert discoveredlaccoliths.
After retiring from Caltech, Sharp and his wife Jean moved their home fromAltadena toSanta Barbara. They had two children.
