Biography

Dr. DiPaolo was born and raised in Fredericton. After graduating from St. Thomas University with an honours in political science, she moved to Syracuse, New York to complete an MA and PhD.  Her PhD dissertation, “The Separation of Powers: A framework for guiding judicial decision making when the executive limits individual liberties during armed hostilities,” is a look at how, contrary to conventional thinking, the Supreme Court does not defer to the Executive in times of perceived threats to national security, but instead defers to Congress. The dissertation is an examination into how Congress allows the President to limit individual rights and the Supreme Court rarely uses the Bill of Rights to defend those rights.

After completing her PhD, Dr. DiPaolo accepted a position at Middle Tennessee State University where she taught for six years before returning to Fredericton in 2014 to teach in the human rights department.

Since returning to STU, Dr. DiPaolo created the successful moot court program at St. Thomas University and continues to oversee and coach in the program. In 2017, she was awarded St. Thomas University’s John McKendy Memorial Teaching Award and in 2019 was awarded the Association of Atlantic Universities Excellence in Teaching Award. 

While teaching is her passion, her research interests include examining what we can learn about human rights through popular culture. She is also interested in disability rights, the rights of seniors, and the often intersectionality of the two groups.

Dr. DiPaolo is very active in STU collegial governance. She was chair of the Human Rights Department from 2014-2024 and was a member of the Faculty Association Union at St Thomas’ executive board in 2023 prior to stepping down to go on sabbatical in the summer of 2024. She has sat on a number of Senate Committees including the Presidential Advisory Committee on Budget, Joint Board-Senate Committee on Future Direction of STU, Joint Board-Senate Committee on Workplace Safety, (Faust Representative), Learning, Teaching and Development Committee, Senate Interdisciplinary Studies Committee, Ad Hoc Committee of the Senate: Research Integrity, Senate Curriculum Committee, and chaired the Senate Academic Planning Committee. She was also a member of STU’s Research Ethics Board.