K. R. Jolls - Personal Web Page
Selected Letters
"The Importance of a Student's Major," The New York Sun, August 11, 2004, p. 8.
"Polio story recalls 'terror' of epidemic," USA TODAY, April 23, 2004, p.10A.
"Cyberoptimism," ASEE PRISM, November 1997, p. 7.
"Swamped," Letters, Sky, magazine of Delta Airlines, June 1996, p. 15.
"Poor incentives for educational technologists," MIT Technology Review, October 1994, p. 9 .
"Superhighway robbery," American Scientist, July/August 1994, p. 305.
"Classroom technology: The essential components," The Chronicle of Higher Education, B5 (July 19, 1989).
In The Des Moines Register
"The Trill of Patriotism," March 12, 2002, 8A.
"Take risks for Iowa's visions," March 5, 2001, 7A.
"Jazz: Clever, artful, sensuous, lovely music," January 25, 2001, 11A.
"Grade inflation diminishes us all," May 24, 1999, 6A.
"Rhapsody in big blue?" May 25, 1997, 8A.
"Perpetual motion," September 3, 1995, 6C.
"Jabberwocky in the classroom," September 9, 1984.
"Making teaching as important as research," Guest opinion, February 19, 1982.
In The New York Times
"The Thrill of Video Games, Applied to School," November 26, 2005, A30.
"Teaching Art and Science: The Twain Meet," June 10, 2003, A26.
"A Marriage of Disciplines," Circuits, November 7, 2002, G10.
"Virtual Labs: Young Tinkerers at Work," May 25, 2002, A16.
"Keeping Eyes Open," Arts and Leisure, May 6, 2001, AR4; reprinted in The Tribune, Ames, IA, May 25, 2001, A6.
"Reliving War's Horror," Circuits, February 15, 2001, D9.
"Digital Lessons," Circuits, December 28, 2000, D10.
"The Status of Science," November 4, 2000, A30.
"Putting Teachers First," August 24, 2000, G11.
"When Ivy and Dollars Intertwine," August 7, 2000, A22.
"The Gigahertz Game," Circuits, March 16, 2000, D10.
"Computer-Aided Football," Circuits, February 3, 2000, D10.
"P.S. Send Nicer E-Mail," December 9, 1999, A30.
"Internet Generation Isn't Just Wasting Time," March 21, 1999, Wk 14 (reprinted).
"Score One for Science," January 4, 1998, Wk 10.
"Arts groups can collaborate with schools," March 23, 1996, p. 20.
Avocation
Kenneth Jolls is a part-time professional musician. He is a jazz vibraphone player with experience in arranging and conducting as well as performing. His first degree (Duke University, 1958) was in music. Some important events in his musical life are given below:
Attended music school under Band Service Scholarship at Indiana University and graduated with an AB degree in music (theory) from Duke (1958). Experience in arranging for marching band and dance band both at Indiana and Duke. Leader of the Duke Ambassadors dance orchestra, 1957-58, and toured abroad with that organization.
Leader of the "Quarter Notes" combo that won the North Carolina Collegiate Jazz Festival, Chapel Hill, NC, spring 1956 (cited in Metronome magazine).
University Carillonneur, Duke University, Durham, NC, 1956-59. Studied with Anton Brees.
Played for Bob Hope, road show, University of Illinois, 1964.
Percussionist for the Iowa State University Symphony Orchestra, 1972-77.
Played in stage bands for Sonny and Cher and for Helen Reddy, road concerts at Iowa State University, 1973-74.
Marimba soloist with the Iowa State University Wind Ensemble, February 1976.
Featured vibraphone soloist with the Drake University Percussion Ensemble, Des Moines, IA, December 1977.
Conducted the orchestras for the Union Board Theater productions of "Hair" and "Jesus Christ Superstar," VEISHEA, Iowa State University, 1978, 1980.
Featured in an article in the Des Moines Register: "The chemistry of a top vibes player," Des Moines, Iowa, February 4, 1981, page 1B.
Occasional percussionist with the Des Moines Symphony, 1975-1980.
Jazz recitals in Berkeley, CA; Chicago, IL; Ames, IA; and New Orleans, LA, and at the Universities of Delaware and West Virginia, 1982-present.
Hosted visits to Iowa State University by Gary Burton (March 1987) and Marian McPartland (February 1991).
Performed for members of the Baltimore Symphony (March 1990), the Philadelphia Orchestra (May 1990), and the Leningrad Philharmonic (October 1990), in post-concert sessions sponsored by the Ames International Orchestra Festival Association.
Cited as an outstanding carillonneur (at Duke University) in a letter to the editor by Richard Cummings, SMITHSONIAN magazine, January 1995.
Orchestra conductor, Stars Over VEISHEA production of "Bye Bye Birdie," C. Y. Stephens Auditorium, Iowa State University, April 1997.
Feature article, "On a more Scientific Note," (Associated Press) The Muscatine Journal, page 1, Muscatine, IA, July 25, 1999.
Letter, "Remembering Milt's magic," Des Moines Register, November 1, 1999, 8A.
Lecture/demonstration on the jazz photographs of William Gottlieb, "Arts at Lunch," The Octagon, Ames, Iowa, December 10, 1999. Also in "Jazz Greats," The Tribune, Ames, Iowa, December 18, 1999, D1.
Soloist in the Monday Celebrity Series, ISU Department of Music, April 29, 2002, April 28, 2003.
"Good Vibrations" at the Cornelia Street Cafe, Greenwich Village, New York City, Jan. 5, 2003. A performance/lecture about the music, history, and physics of the vibraphone. "Entertaining Science" series curated by Cornell University chemist and poet Roald Hoffmann. (newspaper article) (Chemical and Engineering News) ("Great Minds at Play")
Cited in "Chemists Making Music," by Joan Stephenson, Chemistry (American Chemical Society), Winter (2004), p. 14.
Soloist with the Kansas State University jazz group under the direction of Prof. Wayne Goins, Manhattan, KS, April 2005.
