It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the death of our colleague and friend, W. Stuart Pope, who passed away on Nov. 22. A valued member of the nursing team, he joined AUCON as a faculty member in 2009.
Pope served as the adviser for the Auburn Student Nurses Association and taught psychiatric-mental health nursing, evidence-based practice and animal-assisted therapy. The college's Animal-Assisted Therapy program was run by Pope, and he was often seen with his four-legged friends.
“Stuart was fully engaged in the program, his students and his canine friends. His CAREing Paws program was a pioneering initiative to enhance mental health care in the community,” said Morgan Yordy, associate professor and colleague.
Prior to joining AUCON, he worked in psychiatric-mental health nursing for the State of Alabama in the Department of Mental Health. When he was a pastor of a small church in Georgia, he sought a career change. After his initial nursing education at Gordon College in Barnesville, Ga., he earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from Auburn University at Montgomery, and a master's and a doctoral degree, both from Samford University. The focus of his doctoral research was Transitioning Registered Nurses into a Psychiatric-Mental Health Setting.
Pope was among the 50 alumni honored by Samford University's Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing with a Living Legacy Award. He was a member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, International Society for Anthrozoology, Animals in Society, Alabama State Nurses Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society.
"On behalf of the AU College of Nursing community, I share our deep condolences with Dr. Pope’s wife, Suzanne, their family and their many friends during this most difficult time," Dean Gregg Newschwander said. “He will be sorely missed.”
Visit our website to read about William Stuart Pope’s distinguished career.
