Margaret Stevens
- M.A., Ph.D., Stanford University
- B.A., Macalester College
Paul Dietrich has been described as “an apt bandleader, an exception composer, and a superlative performer” (All About Jazz) and “a skilled composer” (JazzTrail) and his music has been praised as “stunningly beautiful” (Audiophile Audition) and “captivating” (Chicago Jazz Magazine).
A composer, trumpet player and educator based in the Midwest, Dietrich has led the Paul Dietrich Quintet since 2012 and the Paul Dietrich Jazz Ensemble since 2016. The Chicago-based Quintet has released two albums: Focus (2017, ears&eyes) and We Always Get There (2014, Blujazz). The Paul Dietrich Jazz Ensemble’s 2019 album Forward features guest artist and world-renowned drummer Clarence Penn (Dave Douglas, Maria Schneider) alongside many of the Midwest’s best jazz musicians.
As a composer, Dietrich has completed over a dozen commissions for schools and organizations including the Isthmus Jazz Festival, Lawrence University’s Jazz Weekend, Ripon College, Madison College, the Mount Horeb Middle School Jazz Festival, and various high schools throughout Wisconsin. He is a two-time recipient of the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium’s Artistic Development Grant.
Paul holds a Bachelor’s degree in trumpet and jazz studies from Lawrence University and a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from DePaul University. As an educator, Paul has directed the Jazz Ensemble at Ripon College since 2021, and served as co-trumpet instructor with his wife, Jessica Jensen, while filling in for his former teacher, John Daniel, at Lawrence University in 2021. Previously, Paul taught at Prairie Music & Arts in Sun Prairie, WI, and directed the jazz ensemble at Madison East High School.
Faculty Fellow of the theatre department.
My role at the library is Access Services Librarian, which means I manage circulation, interlibrary loan, reserves, serials, stacks management, and the library’s social media. I also teach information literacy classes at the library. My interests are open educational resources, social justice, and critical librarianship.
I started teaching at Ripon College in 2019, joining the math and computer science department with a specialty in applied mathematics. At Ripon, my teaching focuses on mathematical modeling (including modeling within courses like calculus), statistics and data analysis. I have also been able to do both modeling and research projects with senior math majors as part of their senior thesis.
Before coming to Ripon, I taught at Beloit College, and did research in computational neuroscience in Tokyo and Boston. My research includes action potential propagation across gap junctions (with applications to epilepsy), and neocortical processing during sleep. I use both mathematical modeling and data analysis extensively in my research.
While I was always drawn to math because I always loved puzzles, I also love music because I love to sing. While in college, I wanted to become an opera singer, and studied many languages and theater along that goal. I still sing, on occasion, and am always up for a puzzle or a game!