Samuel Willis Tripp

Samuel Willis Tripp is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Mathematical Sciences department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Dartmouth College in 2022 and his B.A. in Mathematics from Williams College in 2014. His academic appointment focuses on teaching excellence while maintaining active research in mathematical topology.

Dr. Tripp's research interests center on combinatorial and computational questions in knot theory and low-dimensional topology. His work bridges theoretical mathematics with computational approaches, exploring properties of knots and links through homological methods. He has published multiple papers on grid homology, spectral sequences, and experimental approaches to knot classification.

His scholarly work reveals a strong focus on the intersection of topology and computation, with publications examining invariance properties, combinatorial structures, and experimental methods in knot theory. His research demonstrates both theoretical depth and practical computational applications in low-dimensional topology.

Dr. Tripp is deeply committed to undergraduate education, teaching courses across all levels from introductory mathematics to advanced topics. His teaching philosophy emphasizes getting students excited about mathematical concepts and their real-world applications while exploring advanced theoretical topics.

Outside of his academic work, he maintains diverse interests including reading (tracking over 600 books on Goodreads), outdoor activities (hiking, running, biking, and paddling in New England), birdwatching, and species identification. He documents his reading and outdoor activities through his personal blog and platforms like Strava and Goodreads.