Shane J Lopez, PH.D

Shane J. Lopez passed away on July 23, 2016. He was born on April 4, 1970, in New Iberia, Louisiana, where he grew up reveling in the lifeloving culture of Louisiana’s beloved Acadiana region. A lifelong lover of both learning and having a good time, Shane graduated from New Iberia Senior High School in 1988 and encountered a skeptical principal who outright disbelieved that he could possibly be master of his high school graduation ceremonies or sitting in the front row, graduating with honors. But in fact, both were true. Almost immediately after beginning college at the University of Southwestern Louisiana at Lafayette, he encountered Allison Rose, his little sister’s best friend from elementary school, at a hometown party and, even though she was jailbait, asked her to dance. She soon told him to think twice if he thought she was in for tolerating antics and that she was the boss of how she was going to be treated, which got his attention. Apparently he liked her spunk. About three months later, while sitting in her family living room and admiring the Christmas tree, he turned to her and said, “You know, I’m going to marry you one day.” This led to 28 years of adventures, long conversations about ideas and many years of sidebyside studying for school and then research and then general interest. Shane went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) before moving to Lawrence for graduate school. After four months away, he returned to Louisiana with an engagement ring in his pocket to fetch Alli and have her join him in Lawrence. They then both attended the University of Kansas as poor students far from home in the tundra of Midwestern winters, and he earned master’s and doctoral degrees in counseling psychology. Near the end of his studies, Shane earned the BrooksCole Award, which recognizes the outstanding doctoral student in the field of counseling psychology. His graduate advisors then started talking to him about staying on for a tenuretrack faculty position, which he thought was just them being nice — until the university offered him a job before a competing program could complete the offer to hire him. Shane then served as a professor of counseling psychology at KU for ten years, and experienced one of greatest joys of his life in teaching and mentoring students at all levels. Although his initial focus was graduate students in his own field, he also mentored students in other disciplines of psychology from his own university and from around the world, occasionally serving on dissertation committees for students he had never met in person. He found much meaning in mentoring aspiring teachers to recognize their unique talents to honor the struggles, activate the potential and light the fire of hope within each student. His work within the KU School of Education’s Department of Psychology and Research in Education later set him on his path for the great mission of his life: advocating for psychological reform of American education. In a decade in academia, he collaborated closely with Rick Snyder, the founder of hope research as a field of academic study, who was his research mentor, fun collaborator, coworkaholic and, eventually, best friend. Rick’s guidance and framework for providing “a lifetime of mentoring” guided Shane’s life and approach to guidance, instruction and mentoring. After a decade in academia, Shane left KU as a tenured professor when he was recruited to be Gallup’s Senior Scientist in Residence and Research Director for the Clifton Strengths Institute. His first major project in this new role was designing the Gallup Student Poll, which measures how hope, engagement and wellbeing can be measured in schools. Today, it is provided free to any public school in America, with the intention of measuring what matters most to make a school effective and giving visionary educators and involved parents meaningful, understandable measures to inform their conversations, planning and advocacy. He also led strengths research and integrated his findings on hope and strengths into a larger focus on how people can achieve wellbeing in school, work and life. He was the author of 10 books, including the most recent “Making Hope Happen: Create the Future You Want for Yourself and Others,” through an imprint of Simon & Schuster. He also was a speaker at three TEDx events, many conferences across the country and at the Aspen Ideas Festival. He was a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. And a year before his death, the division of Counseling Psychology established an award in his name. That’s about as much as he would want said about accolades, because he believed that the greatest legacy of anyone’s life was the relationships. One of his students honored him to tears when she wrote, in a thank you card to him upon her doctoral hooding that, “We are your ripples.” That card and the sentiment behind it were the most meaningful honor he probably ever received. Shane is survived by his wife, Alli Rose Lopez, and their beloved son, Parrish. He is also survived by his father, Harry Lopez, Sr.; brother Harry Lopez, Jr.; and sister, Crystal Gaudin Lopez; five nieces and nephews; many cousins; a goddaughter; his lifelong best friend, Jennifer Romero Wallace; and scores of friends and students who were pursuing meaningful work to help people around the world. He was preceded in death by his mother, Brenda Louviere. A funeral mass will be held to honor his passing on Saturday, August 13, at St. John’s Catholic Church in Lawrence, and followed by a Louisianastyle house party at the family home. In lieu of flowers, the family invites contributions to the education fund for his beloved son, Parrish. Those may be addressed to College America (memo: Parrish Lopez) and mailed to Parrish Lopez, C/O The Perspective Group, P.O. Box 1881, Lawrence, KS 66044. A final memorial service is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 10, in New Iberia, Louisiana, where he will be interred under the picturesque live oaks trees at Beau Pre Cemetery. Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries.LJWorld.com.