My wife, Betty, and I visited Bill Sharpe yesterday at his home in Carmel, CA, to present him his Performance & Risk Measurement Hall of Fame award. I was in the area this week for a meeting with a client (CalPERS), and so took advantage of the trip to meet with Dr. Sharpe.

The members of The Journal of Performance Measurement‘s Advisory Board voted on who should be admitted, and the first year (2013) saw three inductees. I was not surprised in the least when Dr. Sharpe, along with Gary Brinson and the late Peter Dietz, were named in the first group to be so honored.

When The Journal‘s editor, Douglas Spaulding, and I presented the award to Gary Brinson last year, Gary noted how the three inductees had a similar connection:  the Seattle/Tacoma area. Bill Sharpe taught at the University of Washington (before moving on to Stanford), Peter Dietz worked for Frank Russell (based in the area), and Gary earned his MBA at U of W.

I met Bill Sharpe several years ago, when I visited him at Stanford, to interview him for The Journal. I found him to be extremely warm and easy going; the same holds true today. My wife and I enjoyed spending some time with this legend, whose contributions to our industry have been massive.

p.s., the painting in the background is by Dr. Sharpe’s wife, Kathy, who is a well known and regarded local artist.