Nancy P. Pope, Ph.D., was promoted to associate dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, announced Dean Robert E. Thach, Ph.D.
“As an assistant dean, Nancy Pope has made outstanding contributions to many aspects of the graduate school’s mission,” Thach said. “For example, she has overseen the development of the Olin Fellowship Program for Women into one of the university’s premier programs for graduate education. As the grad school’s office manager, she has streamlined all our day-to-day activities, enabling us to make full use of new technologies for improving efficiency.
“I am delighted to see Nancy take on ever wider responsibilities in her new role as associate dean.”
Her additional duties will include acting as information officer for graduate and professional students. In this capacity, she will organize a calendar of events and edit a newsletter, and will pay particular attention to the needs of students interested in opportunities for interdisciplinary study and community service.
Pope will also continue to coordinate the Mr. and Mrs. Spencer T. Olin Fellowship Program for Women in Graduate Study, a role she’s had since 1998. The Monticello College Foundation established the program in 1974 to bring outstanding women to Washington University to pursue careers in higher education or the professions.
An annual conference is held on campus to honor past and present fellowship recipients. Pope, a former Olin fellow, has coordinated several Olin conferences.
Pope, who earned a bachelor’s degree in medieval studies from Brown University in 1973, began her graduate studies in comparative literature in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in 1974 as a member of the first class of Olin fellows. She earned a master’s degree in 1976 and a doctorate in 1982 from the university.
In 1983, Pope joined Washington University’s Department of English in Arts & Sciences as a lecturer. She has also taught at Illinois College and Webster University, where she was coordinator of the Writing Center from 1993-97.
While a lecturer and then an adjunct assistant professor of English at Washington University until 2000, Pope received the Dean’s Faculty Award for Teaching in University College in 1988, the Council of Students of Arts & Sciences Teaching Award in 1996 and Student Union’s Professor of the Year Award in Arts & Sciences in 1999.
Editor’s note: Pope is a resident of St. Louis, Mo. (63110).