In Memoriam: Catherine Elizabeth Pope

Katie Pope, associate vice chancellor for strategic operations and planning in the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, died on May 23, after a three-year battle with cancer. She was 49 years old.

“Katie helped forge the very foundation of the University of Pittsburgh’s Title IX efforts,” Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said in a statement. “Today, we are a better university and a better community because of her steadfast leadership, inspiring example, and unyielding quest to do the right thing at each and every turn.”

Pope received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Dayton in Ohio. She held a master’s degree in philanthropy studies from Indiana University and a master’s degree from Iowa State University. She had been pursuing her doctorate in education at the University of Pittsburgh.

Before being named associate vice chancellor, Pope served as the first full-time Title IX coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh. Earlier in her career, Pope was the deputy Title IX coordinator at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and then Title IX coordinator at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.