William Pope of Middlebury, Conn., Represents WPI and Liberty League on Academic All-America D-III Football Team

2016 Nov 29

WPI senior William Pope has been selected as an Academic All-America second team member by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He is the only student-athlete to be selected from the Liberty League.

Pope, a biomedical engineering major that did not miss a game in three-plus seasons, aided the Engineers in topping the league in total offense with 413.3 yards per game and ranking second in the league with 31.4 points per game in 2016. The starting right guard is a three-time Liberty League All-Academic selection, a Charles O. Thompson Scholar and a member of the Dean's List.

The senior traveled to Denmark to perform his IQP titled "Bike Parking in the Narrow Streets of Copenhagen" and followed up with examining sports injury prevention for his MQP. Pope is also active on campus as a member of Order of Omega leadership honor society, Biomedical Engineering Society, Student Support Network and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as well as a brother in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

Pope is the third member of the football program to be recognized, joining Aaron Champagne (2009, 2010) and Ehab Hamdan(2013). Overall he is WPI's 44th different honoree for a department total of 62.

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Projects Program. There are more than 45 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.