Mary-Rose Papandrea

Mary-Rose is the Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law. After graduating from Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School, Papandrea clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and practiced law for several years at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC, where she specialized in First Amendment and media law litigation.

At UNC, Professor Papandrea teaches Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, and an upper-level course about free speech issues in education. She served as the Law School’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for five years, and from 2021-22, she led the University’s strategic initiative to promote democracy. She also serves as the Faculty Symposium Advisor for the First Amendment Law Review. 

Professor Papandrea has published widely on a range of First Amendment issues, including free speech in schools and government employment. Her most recent article “Law Students, Professionalism, and the First Amendment” was just published in the Stanford Law Review.