She received her B.S. degree in computer science and applied mathematics in 1983 as valedictorian from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and as the recipient of an Office of Naval Research Graduate Fellowship, earned her Ph.D. degree in computer science at Stony Brook in 1987. She then joined the faculty of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Arizona State University, where she established her teaching and research interests in the educational, practical and theoretical aspects of databases. In August 2005, Dr. Dietrich joined the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Applied Computing at ASU to contribute to the new Applied Computing Program.