Louis Pope Explained

Louis M. Pope (born 1947) is an American businessman and has worked as a micro-credit and business organizer in Kenya.[1]

Biography

Pope was raised in Provo, Utah. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (1974) and an MBA (1975) from Brigham Young University.[2]

In 1978 Pope formed US Synthetic, a company that manufactures diamond drill bits.[1] Pope has a patent relating to this company's main product.[3] The company was close to bankruptcy in 1985, but went on to become one of the fastest-growing companies in the US in the mid-90s.[4] He was CEO from 1992, and it was bought by Dover Corporation in 2004.[5] In January 2010, Pope retired from this position and moved close to Mombasa, Kenya to supervise his businesses there.[1]

In Kenya, Pope founded Yehu Microfinance in 1999, which focuses on giving small loans to women.[6] He also operates Coast Coconut Farms, a coconut oil business initiative largely involving local Kenyan women.[1] He has also served on the board of Deseret International and Choice Humanitarian. Pope has also been a donor to BYU and Utah Valley University. He was named 2009 Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum's Ron King Social Entrepreneur of the Year.[7]

Pope is a Latter-day Saint. He and his wife Christine have five children.[2] His father, Bill J Pope, was a chemist at BYU, founder of Megadiamond and president of US Synthetic.[8] His mother Margaret taught religion at BYU for 25 years.[9]

Notes and References

  1. News: Utahn aiding poor - US synthetic founder's hobby is to create jobs, fight poverty. Haddock. Marc. 4 December 2009. Deseret News. 4 January 2010.
  2. Web site: Louis M. Pope. Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology. Brigham Young University. 4 January 2010.
  3. http://www.faqs.org/patents/inv/43908 Patent entry on Pope's invention
  4. News: US Synthetic got rocky start. 21 June 1998. Deseret News. 4 January 2010.
  5. News: Dover acquires US Synthetic Corporation. emsnow. 1 September 2004. 4 January 2010.
  6. Web site: About us. Yehu Microfinance. 4 January 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20091224150932/http://www.yehu.org/about-us. 24 December 2009. dead.
  7. News: Honoring Innovation-Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum Awards. Leong. Grace. 12 December 2009. Daily Herald. 4 January 2010. Utah Valley.
  8. News: UVSC names science building for donor. Haddock. Sharon M.. 24 April 1997. Deseret News. 4 January 2010.
  9. News: Gift will fund a new Y. professorship. 17 November 1997. Deseret News. 4 January 2010.