My name is Deb MacKenzie, and I teach in the Music Department at Ripon College, as well as accompany all ensembles, juries and recitals. I have degrees from the University of Iowa (B.M. Music/Music Therapy) and UW-Madison (M.M. Piano Performance and Pedagogy). I enjoy watching students progress in their fields of study, and love watching their growth. I am married with four children, a son-in-law and a grandson.
I am a cultural anthropologist with specializations in economic anthropology and the anthropology of money. My ethnographic research and engaged policy work examines the everyday uses of monetary technologies and the shifting relations of money, social inequality, and financial inclusion in Europe, the United States and internationally. I have a B.A. in anthropology and German from Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. After receiving my Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, I was a postdoctoral scholar at the Institute for Money, Technology, & Financial Inclusion (IMTFI) at the University of California, Irvine. In partnership with IMTFI and the International Currency Association (ICA), I’ve written two white papers on the role and importance of cash in society. I have been a visiting professor of anthropology at Ripon College from 2018-2022 and participated in faculty-student collaborative research for two summers in the Ripon College Summer Opportunity for Advanced Research (SOAR) program. I am now an assistant professor of anthropology.
Hi! I teach biology, primarily Anatomy and Physiology. I carry out behavioral neuroendocrinology research (hormones on the brain and behavior) in rats. I am particularly interested in the role of steroid hormones in social and sexual behaviors, as well as the neuropeptides vasopressin and oxytocin in social behaviors. I also carry out pedagogy research on how students learn. I grew up in Madison, WI and got my B.A. from Earlham College, a school about the same size as Ripon. I got my MS and PhD from UW-Madison in behavioral neuroendocrinology, did a postdoc in biology education research, then taught for two years at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. I currently live in Ripon with my husband, two kids, two dogs, and chickens. I am a runner and hope to get back into triathlons soon (I am a 2x Ironman).
Born and raised in Illinois, I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. I went to graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln earning a Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics. After that, I conducted research at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. on 3D tissue printing for regenerative medicine, and at Caltech investigating protein hydration dynamics, before beginning my own academic research career and teaching. My research now focuses on how liquid dynamics can modify and regulate biological processes. I have had a very diverse career that allowed me to work closely with researchers in other disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and medicine. This experience has informed my teaching and mentoring of undergraduate research students. I aim to demonstrate to students in other majors, how physics can inform topics in their own disciplines.
I received my undergraduate degree in Physics in 2002 at Doane College in Crete, NE, which is a school very similar to Ripon. After graduating I continued studying physics and received my Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2007. After completing my Ph.D. I joined the group of Nobel prize winner Prof. Ahmed Zewail at Caltech as a postdoctoral researcher where I worked on developing ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) techniques. Over the last 10 years or so that I have been a professor, I have taught most courses that are offered at the undergraduate level, with one of my favorites being Quantum Mechanics. Outside the classroom I strive to create opportunities for students and have worked with ~30 paid undergraduate summer researchers on a variety of projects. My research primarily focuses on studying the fundamental quantum properties of electrons/light interactions.
I study animal cognition and neuroscience. My courses focus around these two areas as well and include: Learning and Behavior, Behavioral Neuroscience, Sensation and Perception, Drugs and Society, and Inside the Animal Mind. My lab tests a number of species including rats and dogs. We love trying to understand what animals are thinking! Outside of the college, I spend time with my own animals and enjoy performing in community theater.
I became an educator because I find it endlessly fascinating. There are so many angles to think about teaching and education at all levels, from how to build trusting relationships with students, to thinking about ways to pursue research and inquiry with students, to analyzing educational policy. I began my career as a teacher at the high school level, then later became an elementary school teacher, then pursued a Ph.D. and became a college professor. Most of my K-12 teaching was in the Boston Public Schools. But my graduate work, research, and family connections brought me back to the midwest, and to a focus on educational research and teaching pre-service teachers. I teach courses generally focusing on literacy, elementary curricula, differentiating instruction, and educational assessment.
I have been a resident of Ripon since 1984 and an adjunct professor, off & on, since 1992. My focus was business, entrepreneurship, and the relationship of business to society. Recently, I developed a course to introduce students to techniques and styles of management.
My vocation was hospital management, then COO of a 1 million square foot distribution warehouse, and an executive director of a Red Cross Chapter.
I am an adjunct instructor of journalism as well as a Ripon College graduate (1998). I teach three courses: IDS 211 (Journalism 1), IDS 213 (a workshop course for the College Days newspaper) and IDS 215 (Hollywood Journalism vs Real-World Reporting). My teaching is informed by my more than two decades of experience as a local journalist, including 14+ years as editor of the Ripon Commonwealth Press (where I started as a reporter in 2000). During that career, I earned 50+ first-place awards for writing, photography, design and more in the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest, and led the Commonwealth to multiple Best Weekly Newspaper honors. I have taught journalism at Ripon College since August 2016, and was honored with the Faculty/Staff Mentor Award in 2018. Currently, in addition to my adjunct role at Ripon College, I serve as a public relations coordinator for an area library.
Education
I am an educator. I taught middle school for 9 years in three different school districts. I was a k-12 principal for 8 years. I began working at Ripon College in the Spring of 2010. I am licensed in Wisconsin as a Principal, Curriculum Director, Pupil Services Director, and 1-8 Grade Elementary Teacher and Math Teacher Grades 1-9. I teach courses in math education and the student teaching seminar. I have a Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education from UW-Whitewater and a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Marian University. I grew up in Fond du Lac and have only lived in Wisconsin.
