Scholar Profile
Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito
Law
Biography
Frances graduated from Harvard with a concentration in Chemistry. After a brief stint as a high school chemistry teacher, she went on to UC Davis Law and worked in San Francisco as an intellectual property attorney. Since 2013, Frances has served as an administrative patent judge at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Frances is also a writer and publisher. She published her first book, “A Tree of My Own,” a children’s picture book about Karen refugees displaced by war following a little girl’s journey to finding a new home with her family in Portland. Frances started two independent presses, Demagogue Press and Qilin Press, to create community through games and uplift marginalized voices through stories.
High school: Venice High School
Degrees
| College | Year | Degree |
|---|---|---|
Harvard UniversityCambridge, MA |
2002 | A.B. Chemistry |
University of California - DavisDavis, CA |
2007 | J.D. Law |
News and Highlights
Channeling the Power of the Pen: Frances Lu Pai Ippolito, MS ’98, lawyer, judge, writer, and most recently publisher, who seeks to shed a light on marginalized communities, released her first book, “A Tree of My Own.” A children’s picture book, sold out just minutes after its release, features the Karen refugee experience displaced by war in the Myanmar region. "A Tree of My Own" has been designated an "Of Note" title by Freeman Book Awards via the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA).The book is also a finalist for three categories of the IBPA award--AAPI Communities, Best New Voice, Best First Book. All the profits from book sales go back into scholarships and educational projects for the Karen community, including those who still reside in refugee camps. Profits have been donated to Oregon Karen Association and Earth Mission (providing medical care to Karen in Burma).