If you happen to call on John DiPippa at work, you’ll notice some interesting items in his office at the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law, where he serves as dean and distinguished professor of law and public policy: a daintily decorated teapot and a pewter dish engraved with Thomas Jefferson’s name and picture and the inscription, “Planter, President, Lawyer.”
You might also spot a football, autographed by former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman and Arkansas native Shawn Andrews. On one side the message reads, “Get well very soon!! Go Eagles!!” And on the other side, “To Dean DiPippa, Shawn Andrews, ‘The Big Kid.’”
To a casual visitor, this hodge-podge of items represents little, but to DiPippa and those who know him best, these bits and pieces symbolize the significant experiences that have shaped his career and life.
The second oldest of six children, DiPippa was born and raised in Berwick, Pa., a small Northeastern town that drew droves of immigrants to heavy industry jobs in the early 20th century. “My grandfathers each immigrated from Southern Italy to work in the [railroad car] plant,” DiPippa said.
DiPippa’s mother, Theresa, and his father, John, were both born into large families in the United States. The senior John DiPippa finished high school in 1940, joined the army and served the United States in WWII, after which he worked the night shift in an Italian bakery making bread and pizza for more than 50 years.
“He was a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan,” DiPippa said. “I watched my first football game with him when the Eagles won the NFL championship in 1960. For the next 10 years, until I left for college, we watched the Eagles every Sunday. He died in 2008 at the age of 83. I learned loyalty from my father because he never wavered in his devotion to and support for his family, his church, his job and, I must say, his beloved Eagles.”
DiPippa knew from an early age that he was destined to become a lawyer. “I wanted to do something good with my life. I saw law as a way to combine action and intellect in a way that would allow me to contribute to a better society.” He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from West Chester State College in 1974 and his juris doctorate from Washington & Lee University School of Law in 1975.
He said it was love at first sight when he met his wife, Karen Shallcross, in 1973. “We got married the next year. She is the love of my life,” he said. The couple has four sons: Joel, Andrew, Micah and Nikolai, and one grandchild, Liliana Rose.
DiPippa began his career in 1978 as a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow with the Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley in Roanoke, Va. In 1979 he moved to Lexington, Va., to staff the legal aid society’s branch office. There, he worked with Washington & Lee Law School to develop a program for students to work in the legal aid office. He was promoted to managing attorney of the office and stayed there until 1983, when federal budget cuts required them to lay off staff.
“So I laid myself off and put myself on the teaching market,” he said. UALR offered him a job in 1983, and he has been there ever since, with the exception of 1988-89, when he returned to Virginia to serve as the executive director of Blue Ridge Legal Services in Harrisonburg.
There, DiPippa said, he worked on salary for people who could not afford attorneys, and he could not accept fees. “Some clients, however, insisted on giving me something.” The aforementioned teapot and the pewter dish (which you can see in the photo at right) were given to him by clients who wanted to show their appreciation but had little else to give. And he’s kept them all this time.
In January 2009, a month before his official appointment as dean of the Bowen School of Law, DiPippa was diagnosed with prostate cancer. An avid cyclist, DiPippa and his wife had made plans prior to his diagnosis for a family bicycle vacation in Puglia, Italy. “I told Dr. [Keith] Mooney that he could perform the surgery so long as I could still go on the vacation. He did [in March], and in May I was able to ride my bike for seven days with my family,” he said.
“The experience made me realize that men needed more information, support and advice concerning prostate cancer. So I volunteered to be on the board of the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation (APCF) later that year and, now, will be the chair during 2012.”
He continued, “My goal is to raise awareness about the disease and options for treatment, especially in the African-American community where the fatality rate in Arkansas is more than 170 percent higher for African-American men than white men. Until there is a cure, testing and education are the only weapons we have.”
DiPippa is also active with Bowtie Cause, an organization that was created when one of his former students, Chad Williamson, went to work for former Cincinnati Bengals football player, Dhani Jones, to help with Jones’ philanthropic efforts.
“Jones wears a bowtie as a tribute to one of his friends who was diagnosed with cancer,” DiPippa said. “Bowtie Cause creates special bowties for charities and sells them for $57 (Jones’ number). The charity gets to keep the proceeds. I worked with Chad and the APCF to help come up with a bowtie for the foundation’s annual spring fundraiser, Boys & Their Toys.
DiPippa is just as enthusiastic about his teaching as he is his volunteer work. “I love knowing that I have helped people see the world in a different way,” he said. “The best days are when everything works well in class: students are engaged, there is spirited discussion and I can see the light bulbs going on all over the room. There is a kind of electricity in the air that lingers even after the class ends.”
More information about the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation is available at ArProstateCancer.org,
and more about Bowtie Cause can be found at BowtieCause.org.