[2] Sharp was raised on a dairy farm near East Liberty, Ohio.

He attended Ohio Wesleyan University and earned his degree in botany in 1927.

After receiving his undergraduate degree, Sharp was introduced to bryology by George Elwood Nichols while taking his classes at the University of Michigan Biological Station.

Sharp became a full professor at the University of Tennessee in 1946, and between 1951 and 1961, he was head of the Department of Botany.

[5] A species of shrub, Magnolia sharpii was also named by Dr. Faustino Miranda in 1955.