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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - A Missouri native who went on to serve as president at the University of Oklahoma following a period of campus unrest has died.

A university spokeswoman said that Paul Sharp died following a lengthy illness.

He was born in Kirksville, Mo., in 1918, making him 91 when he died.

Sharp's tenure followed that of J. Herbert Hollomon, who clashed with then-Gov. Dewey Bartlett over Hollomon's handling of a student occupation of the OU administration building in May 1970.

Bartlett had wanted Hollomon to take stronger action against the demonstrators, but Hollomon chose to talk to the students and the protests ended peacefully.

The university said in a news release that Sharp "mended fences with the public, state officials and even his own Board of Regents."

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