Philosophy William Earl Tyree spent his entire career at Ripon College. He was a professor of philosophy for 33 years from 1950-1983, 23 of those years as chairman of the department. He was the first to hold the Helen Swift Neilson Professor of Cultural Studies title, from 1969-83. Tyree retired in 1983 and received an […]
‘Mother of Ripon College’ Clarissa Tucker Tracy was a botanist and the first female professor at Ripon College. Her scholarship and mentoring influence led to her being affectionately called “the mother of Ripon College.” Tracy was born Nov. 12, 1818, in Jackson, Pennsylvania. By the age of 14, she had started teaching while continuing her […]
Class of 1962: Chemistry Thomas J. Oyster, the nephew of L. Leone Oyster, also devoted his life to teaching chemistry at Ripon College. He was born Jan. 5, 1940, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. At Ripon, he participated in Lambda Delta Alpha/Delta Upsilon. He earned his master’s degree in science at Purdue University. He started his […]
Class of 1919: Chemistry Professor Laura Leone Oyster, known throughout her life as Leone, was born in Ripon, educated at Ripon College, devoted the bulk of her career at the College, and spent her final years in Ripon, committed to her community. She was born Jan. 30, 1897, in Ripon. At the College, she majored […]
Slavic Studies From 1958 to 1963, the former Polish minister of education was the director of Slavic studies at Ripon College. In 1958, Ripon College applied for a grant to support a professor of sociology to the John Hay Whitney Foundation, an agency which placed outstanding teaching faculty in the humanities at independent colleges throughout […]
Ground-Breaking Athletic Director Julie Heinz Johnson was Ripon’s first female athletic director, the Red Hawks’ winningest women’s basketball coach, and a beloved ambassador for Ripon College. She was born Sept. 16, 1965, in Ipswich, South Dakota. She earned her B.S. in health, physical education and recreation from Dakota State University, where she was a three-time […]
Poet The power of the written word was promoted at Ripon College for 29 years by Professor of English and poet David Graham. He was born Feb. 28, 1953, in Johnstown, New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a master of fine arts in poetry from the University of Massachusetts at […]
Winningest basketball coach For 33 years, Bob Gillespie took Ripon College athletics to new heights as a basketball coach, baseball coach, athletic director and associate professor of physical education. He remains today as the winningest basketball and baseball coach in Ripon College history with a combined record of 869-536-3. Robert G. Gillespie was born March […]
Baseball National Baseball Coach Hall of Famer Gordie Gillespie led the Red Hawks as head baseball coach from 1996-2005. He was the father of former Ripon College coach Robert Gillespie. With 2,402 career victories in baseball, football and basketball over a 59-year career, Gordie Gillespie was one of the top college baseball coaches of all […]
Philosophy For 35 years, from 1964 to 1999, Seale R. Doss was a professor of philosophy at Ripon College. He was born Oct. 4, 1929, in Grapevine, Texas. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics, math and philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of […]
Football coach Red Hawks’ head football coach and defensive coordinator Ron Ernst retired at the end of the 2022 season after 32 seasons at the helm. He led the Red Hawks to 193 wins and 114 losses, making him the winningest football coach in both the Midwest Conference and Ripon College history. Ronald Lee Ernst […]
Class of 1978: Art and Culture Erika Doss, Class of 1978, is acknowledged as one of the country’s eminent scholars in American art history, popular culture and public culture of the 20th and 21st centuries. Now serving as a professor of art history and the Edith O’Donnell Distinguished Chair in Art History at The University […]
Music Kurt R. Dietrich taught in the Department of Music for 39 years, retiring in 2019 as a professor of music and the Barbara Baldwin De Frees Chair in the Performing Arts, named after the 1930 Ripon College graduate and benefactress. Dietrich was born Aug. 27, 1951, and grew up in southwestern Virginia. He graduated […]
Civil War Abolitionist Edward Dwight Daniels was a geologist, abolitionist, academic and Civil War soldier. He was born Jan. 19, 1828, in Boston, Massachusetts. He moved to Ripon in 1848 to live in a cooperative agricultural community. He taught at Brockway College and Carroll College and became the first state geologist of Wisconsin in 1853. […]
Founder of Ripon College’s women’s athletics program Elaine Meador Coll was hired in 1973 as the first coach of the modern-day women’s intercollegiate athletic program at Ripon College. She was born in 1943 in Akron, Ohio, and received her undergraduate degree in physical education from Ohio University and later a master’s degree from Southern Illinois […]
Class of 1973: Paying it forward Doreen Conforti Chemerow was a first-generation college student who hoped to attend a small liberal arts college such as Ripon. “However, I needed more financial aid in order to do that,” she said. From Ripon, she received generous scholarship and financial aid in the form of work on campus, […]
Class of 2010: Classical pianist and vocalist After starting her music career as a piano teacher in Milwaukee, Alicia Rhyner Rytlewski has expanded her reach and now is also a composer, performer and recording artist. She was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in September 1987. At Ripon, she majored in music with minors in Spanish and […]
Class of 1982: American History TV At Ripon College, Susan Bundock of Takoma Park, Maryland, developed an interest in politics. That passion, along with her love for writing, led to a 39-career with C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) in Washington, D.C. Her culminating position was as executive producer with C-SPAN’s American History TV. Bundock was […]
Class of 1976: Opera singer A distinguished 20-year career in opera saw soprano Gail Dobish singing more than 40 major operatic roles with more than 60 opera companies throughout the United States, Europe and Asia — including New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She was born […]
Class of 1920: Botanical products George Herbert Conant grew up on a farm outside of Ripon and parlayed his early interest in science and botany into an enduring business which shares botanical slides for schools. He was born June 6, 1896, in Ripon and focused on botany while still in high school. He served during […]
Class of 1968: National criminal defense lawyer Richard “Rick” Kammen wanted to be a criminal defense lawyer for as long as he can remember. Looking back on his career, “I was lucky that I wanted to do something that it turned out I was good at,” he said. “If people have their day in court […]