UMSL Chancellor Tom George (foreground, at left) presents Mark Pope (center), Curators’ Distinguished Professor in the College Education, with the Thomas Jefferson Award on behalf of UM System President Mun Choi on Wednesday at the ED Collabitat. The award recognizes faculty who demonstrate clear distinction in teaching, research, writing, creative activities, and service to the University and the broader community. (Photo by August Jennewein)
University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Tom George this week awarded College of Education Professor Mark Pope with the Thomas Jefferson Award on behalf of University of Missouri System President Mun Choi.
George surprised Pope, a Curators’ Distinguished Professor in the Department of Education Sciences and Professional Programs, with the award on Wednesday at the ED Collabitat. It includes a $10,000 prize and recognizes those who demonstrate clear distinction in teaching, research, writing, creative activities and service to the University and the broader community.
Pope has been called a “living legend of counseling” by the American Counseling Association and is considered to be one of the founders and leading authors in the field of cultural diversity issues in career counseling and development. He is the author of more than 100 articles, books and other publications.
“He has been a highly prolific scholar contributing to the corpus of knowledge and offering new and competitive ideas to the scholarly discourse,” said Marvin Berkowitz, Thomas Jefferson Fellow and Sanford N. McDonnell Professor of Character Education at UMSL. “He has relied on research and theory to drive a scientific and rational worldview, typically in the service of tolerance. Simply the sheer breadth of his scholarly record is testament to that. He is a long-standing servant of public education. He has worked in public education at UMSL for two decades. His service record in his program, his college, the university and the system is testament to his support for public education.”
Pope has devoted much of his career to serving underserved and marginalized populations. He won the ACA Kitty Cole Human Rights Award in 2001. In 2004, he was awarded he was awarded both the Lakota Peace Medal of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling and the Cesar Chavez Servicio a Otros Award of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development. After his stint as president of the American Counseling Association, he served from 2011-2012 as president of the American Psychological Association’s Division 44, the Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.
The UM System President’s Awards are presented annually to faculty members across the four campuses of the UM System who have made exceptional contributions in advancing the mission of the university. Choi will formally recognize Pope and other honorees during an awards celebration to be held in June.
