UALR William H. Bowen School of Law Dean John M.A. DiPippa has been named to the board of directors for the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation (APCF) beginning Jan.1, 2010.

DiPippa was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January 2009, about a month before he was named dean of the Bowen School. He had successful surgery in March and is looking forward to using his experience as a survivor as a member of the board.

“The Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation does the incredibly important work of promoting awareness of the disease and encouraging men to seek screening and treatment,” DiPippa said. “About 28,000 men will die from prostate cancer this year, but the disease disproportionately affects African-American men who have about a 60 percent higher incidence rate of prostate cancer than white men and die at a rate 240 percent higher.

 Access to screening and treatment should be universal. Unfortunately, Arkansas has significantly higher prostate cancer incidence rates and mortality rates than the national average. We have to address the reasons for these higher rates, including ineffective cancer education, barriers to screening and treatment, and personal or financial obstacles. We must also remember that prostate cancer affects a man’s entire family; those supporters also need reliable information and support.”

DiPippa joined the UALR faculty in 1983 and teaches constitutional law, legal profession, law  and religion, interviewing and counseling, and the law of public service. He has also been involved with the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service since it opened, teaching legal and ethical dimension of public service. He served as the law school’s associate dean from 1990 to 1993 and 2001 to 2008.

DiPippa was appointed as interim dean on July 1, 2008, and served in that capacity until his appointment as dean on Feb. 13, 2009. He is the co-author of “The Counselor-at-law: A Collaborative Approach to Client Interviewing and Counseling “ (2nd Ed. 2004), as well as articles in the areas of legal ethics and constitutional law.

The APCF was formed in 2000 by six community leaders and prostate cancer survivors and a Medical Advisory Committee of urologists, oncologists, and family physicians from around the state.