William (Bill) Norman Sharpe, Jr.

William (Bill) Sharpe died June 16, 2026. He was born April 15, 1938 to William Norman and Margaret Womble Sharpe. They lived on a small farm on US 15 501, a property that is now Polk's Landing and Polk's Village.

Bill's first three grades of school were in Bynum before it consolidated with Pittsboro where he graduated in 1955. He had polio in 1954 from which he recovered almost completely except for a residual weakness in his right leg and ankle. His death was hastened by the complications of post-polio syndrome in his final years. 

He enrolled at NC State and graduated with a BS and MS in mechanical engineering in 1961. At State he was president of Theta Chi fraternity and a member of the Golden Chain and other honor societies. In 1959, he married his high school sweetheart Margaret Ellen Strowd; in 1961 they moved to Baltimore where he enrolled in graduate school at the Johns Hopkins University. Their two sons, William and Ashley, were born there. He received his doctorate in 1966; Milton Eisenhower handed him his diploma and Thurgood Marshall was the graduation speaker.

Bill's first academic position was at Michigan State University where he progressed through the ranks to the professorship. He moved to Louisiana State University in 1978 as the chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 1983, Professor Sharpe returned to the Johns Hopkins University to serve as the founding chairman of a new mechanical engineering department. He served as chairman for 11 years as the department became established and grew. With his leadership the department recruited a distinguished faculty and established large undergraduate, graduate, and research programs. He retired from Hopkins in 2009 as Professor Emeritus.

Experimental solid mechanics was his research field. He developed a laser-based technique for measuring strain and displacement over very short gauge lengths. Later, it was used to test very small specimens (some as thin as a human hair) of materials used in micro-electromechanical systems. His research over a 40-year period resulted in numerous publications and presentations at conferences in the US and overseas. He was a visiting scientist at several federal laboratories and was an Alexander von Humboldt foundation scholar in Germany in 1990. This year the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute honored Bill by establishing the William N. Sharpe Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series, furthering his impact in the field.

The Society for Experimental Mechanics was his primary technical society. In addition to publishing papers in its technical journal and making presentations at meetings, he served as Technical Editor 1976-1978 and then president in 1984/85. He was a Fellow of the society and received several awards including the Murray medal in 2002. The capstone was his election as an Honorary Member of the society in 2012; only 10 of the approximately 3000 members can share this honor at a time.

Bill was active in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, serving in various positions. His primary effort was with its accreditation commission (ABET) which evaluated mechanical engineering undergraduate programs at universities. Starting in 1992 as an evaluator and team leader, he visited over 20 programs, which gave him a broad perspective of mechanical engineering education in the US and ended in 2003 after a three-year term on the Board of Directors. He was a Fellow of the society. In 2007 he received the Ralph Coates Roe award from the American Society for Engineering Education. It recognizes a mechanical engineering educator who is an outstanding teacher and who has made a notable contribution to the profession.

His wife, Margaret, was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. Bill retired in 2009 and they moved back home to Chatham County in 2010. After her death in 2012, he moved to Galloway Ridge. 

In 2016, as a resident of Galloway Ridge, Bill became a founder of Ridge Lines, a creative, community-driven literary journal that features articles written exclusively by residents and staff. A few years into Ridge Line's publication, he met Susan Wisely, a fellow writer and resident at Galloway. Bill and Susan grew as partners, sharing in life and adventure, especially in trips to Italy, Grand Cayman and the mountains and coast and of North Carolina. 

Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his brother David and wife Connie, his wife, Margaret Ellen, and Bill's sons William Norman Sharpe III and James Ashley Sharpe. Survivors are his brother David's children, who have been like Bill's own since their parents' death – Polly Falk of Irvine, California, Melanie Sharpe of Huntington Beach, California, and David Ross Sharpe of Las Vegas, Nevada. He is also survived by his beloved grandnieces, Hayley Falk and Kenna Seagrist (Jack) and the newest addition to the family, Olivia Seagrist, and by cousins Sally Fulbright (Nelson) and Jesse Fearrington (Barbara).

A memorial service will take place on September 12 at 2:00PM at Galloway Ridge. 

In lieu of flowers, Bill's family kindly asks that donations be made to Galloway Ridge, Residents' Benevolent Care Fund, 3000 Galloway Ridge, North Carolina 27312. The Residents' Benevolent Care Fund provides peace of mind to Galloway Ridge residents who face financial uncertainty.

Donaldson Funeral Home and Crematory is honored to serve the family of Bill Sharpe.