Former Gonzaga provost dies at 56

Former Gonzaga University Provost Sacha Kopp died in his home on Thursday. He was 56 .

The death, thought to be caused by a heart attack, occurred “suddenly and unexpectedly,” Kopp’s wife told Gonzaga.

Though only provost at Gonzaga for two years before stepping down in July, Kopp – who was a particle physicist by training – had more than three decades of experience in academia, as reported in the Gonzaga Bulletin.

Kopp was born in Dubuque, Iowa, and received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in physics from the University of Chicago, he told The Spokesman-Review in 2022.

Getting his first faculty job at the University of Texas in 2000, he served as the associate chair of the physics department and associate dean for undergraduate education in the 15 years he spent with the university, he said in 2022. Kopp moved and became the dean of liberal arts at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2015, citing a desire to amass experiences with a variety of student bodies.

In 2019, he became the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Two years later, he was appointed provost of Gonzaga. He said in 2022 the reason he came to Gonzaga was in large part due to the Jesuit model of the institution, which was reminiscent of the work of his father – a longtime faculty member at private Catholic Loras College in Dubuque.

“I’ve been an educator my whole life,” Kopp said in 2022. “And I chose that calling because I really think an education is a life-changing experience for young people.”

Although his budgeting work was controversial among Gonzaga faculty, according to reports by the Gonzaga Bulletin, a message sent out by Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh said that Kopp “spent countless hours tackling challenges and identifying opportunities that might help Gonzaga become a better and more effective university.”

“He deeply appreciated the colleagues in the Provost’s Office with whom he worked, the faculty and staff with whom he partnered, and relished opportunities to participate in student events across the year,” McCulloh said in the message.

Kopp is survived by his wife Gretchen Olson Kopp, his children Eleanor and Eli, and his mother Anita. Messages of condolence for the family can be sent to either the Gonzaga’s Office of the President or Office of the Provost.