Monty Pope is a Tennessee native and was raised in the Old Hickory History District of the World War I company town. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, he has served as an educator at the secondary and college level for more than 40 years. For a number of years, he served as the lead teacher of history at Cumberland University, and his particular interests include Andrew Jackson, Jacksonian Democracy and cultural geography.

He has received several honors in recent years, including Metro-Nashville Teacher of the Year and Cumberland University Distinguished Teacher of Excellence. He is married to Pace Pope and has two children and four grandchildren. His wife and both of his sons are Cumberland University graduates.

"Teaching and students are my primary interests," he says. "The joy of teaching remains very much of importance."