Biologist Named Head of MIT

COVINGTON, Ky.--Philip A. Sharp, whose interest in science dates back to his teen-age years, is expected to be appointed to the top position at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. one of the nation's most prestigious colleges.

It was no surprise to his former teachers that Sharp, 45, has been nominated for the presidency at MIT.

A formal vote on Sharp's appointment won't come until March 2, but it's unlikely anyone else would be nominated for the job, said Bob D'Iorio, a spokesman for the college.

Sharp was an "A" student who attended Butler Elementary School and graduated from Pendleton County High School in 1962, said Larry Sutton, assistant superintendent of Pendleton County schools in Kentucky.

"He was very scientific-minded when he was growing up," said Ava Gulick, his sophomore biology teacher at Pendleton High.

Gulick said Sharp excelled in science courses and especially enjoyed doing class projects. She recalled one project in which he and a classmate conditioned mice to meander their way through a maze.

"It was successful, but of course, it was just a high school project," she said.

Sharp, who runs the school's Center for Cancer Research, was nominated for the presidential post by a faculty search committee that received nominations over 200 other candidates.

Sharp would succeed Paul E. Gray, who steps down June 30 to take over as chairman of the MIT Corp., which governs the school. He would become the first biologist to head the university. known world wide for its scientific research.

"It's no more than we expected of him," said his father, Joseph W. Sharp of Covington. He described Sharp as "an all-around boy" who studied hard, but "no more than any normal person would."

His mother, Katherin, called him an overachiever.

Professors and classmates of Sharp's at Union College in Barbourville remember him as a smart student who took his studies seriously. He earned a bachelor's degree from the college in chemistry and mathematics in 1966.

"Most anybody who was at Union at that time would remember Phillip," said Frances Patridge, a professor who retired from the college in 1987. "We're proud to say that Phillip was one of ours."

Patridge, a professor of health and physical education during Sharp's years at Union. never taught him in the classroom. But everyone at the college knew each other because the campus was small, she said. He met his wife, Ann Christine, during the time he spent at union.

He joined the MIT cancer center as an associate professor in 1974 and was promoted to director in 1985.

In 1977, Sharp and his colleagues received national recognition for their pioneering work on the way genetic information is encoded.

The research earned Sharp eight scientific awards, including the Albert E. Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1988. The award is widely regarded in the medical community as second only to the Nobel Prize.