Born in Rochester, New York to Myron B. and Doris (Robie) Gilbert,[1] Sypolt received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and medieval comparative literature from Smith College in 1969, and was a visiting student at Stanford University Law School and Georgetown University Law Center,[1] before receiving a Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law in 1979.
Catherine B. Kelly of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals from 1979 to 1980,[2] and was then in private practice in Washington, D.C. from 1980 to 1983, as an associate with the firm of Peabody, Lambert and Meyers.
She then served as counselor to the vice president of the United States, Dan Quayle, from 1989 to 1990.
[1] On July 31, 1990, Sypolt was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. Claims Court (later U.S. Court of Federal Claims) vacated by the elevation of Randall Ray Rader to the Federal Circuit.
[1] She assumed senior status on January 31, 2005 and retired from the bench on September 1, 2005.