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Daniel H. Sharphorn

Vice Chancellor and General Counsel

Dan Sharphorn
Dan Sharphorn

Dan Sharphorn is the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel aiding in providing legal advice to the Chancellor, Presidents, Executive Officers, and UT institutions and in overall management of the Office of General Counsel. Before joining UT System, he served in the Vice President and General Counsel's office of the University of Michigan for 25 years, most recently as Associate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. In that capacity, Mr. Sharphorn had primary responsibility for legal advice and litigation management at every level of the University in all matters related to faculty and student affairs, research, and governance. As Deputy General Counsel, he assisted in the management of an office with twenty attorneys, five paralegals, and related support staff that provided legal advice to the Board of Regents, the main University campus in Ann Arbor, two regional campuses, and the University of Michigan Medical Center. Mr. Sharphorn directly supervised attorneys responsible for legal advice on intellectual property, technology transfer, export controls, purchasing, contracts, immigration, conflicts of interest and ethics, and student affairs. He also taught law, and social organization and law, in the University of Michigan Department of Sociology.

Mr. Sharphorn began his career in higher education as an instructor and Judge Advocate General at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Dan earned JD, MSW, and MA (Sociology) from the University of Michigan and a BS from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.