Douglas Sharrrott graduated from Cooper Union in 1983 with a Bachelor of Engineering, and from NYU in 1987 with a Master of Science, both in Electrical Engineering.
From 1983 to 1993, Doug worked as an electrical engineer at Fairchild-Weston, Hazeltine, and Grumman. He worked on various communication, identification, and missile tracking systems for the US government.
From 1990 to 1994, Doug attended Brooklyn Law School at night. He was Notes and Comments editor of the Brooklyn Law Review, and in 1994 graduated with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude.
From 1993 to 2024, Doug practiced law at the firms of Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto, and Venable. He was repeatedly recognized by Legal 500 as one of our country’s leading patent attorneys. Doug tried numerous cases before the federal courts, International Trade Commission and United States Patent and Trademark Office. He also worked with inventors to obtain and license patents on their inventions. His clients included IBM, Hewlett Packard, Canon, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Becton Dickinson, Johnson Outdoors, and Novartis. Doug retired in 2024.
Turning to the Alumni Association, in 2015 Doug co-authored our new constitution, which was overwhelmingly adopted by membership the following year. Doug was elected to the Alumni Council in 2022. That same year, he put into place a new online voting system. He presently chairs the Elections Committee and the 501(c)(3) Transition Committee and serves on the Nominating Committee. Doug was selected CUAA Alumnus of the Year in 2025.
He and his wife Karen live in Orlando, Florida. They have four children and five grandchildren.