The math department has several new faces, including Dr. Charles Ratliff.
An Oklahoma native, Ratliff grew up in Guthrie and attended OSU, playing tennis but ultimately decided that playing in college wasn’t right for him since he wanted to focus on academics. After that he pursued his degree at the University of Pennsylvania.
He then did his post doctorate and had a research position at Northwestern University, the University of Southern California and the University of California at Los Angeles.
Ratliff was a research scientist for most of his life before he started teaching part-time. Ratliff made the switch to full-time after hurting his neck, which stopped him from being able to sit for long periods of time behind a microscope.
After his injury, Ratliff became a full-time teacher at Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. He has taught Physics, Economics, Computer Science and Calculus. Ratliff made the decision to move to Harding because he felt it was a better fit for him than public and private school.
Ratliff has now added Pre-Calculus and sponsor of the ping pong club to that list since being here at Harding.
“I appreciate being good at math,” said Ratliff when asked about math and how he felt about being good at it.
At Harding his goal is to teach students math that can be used in the real world and not only for standardized tests. To get more involved in HCP, Ratliff became the sponsor of the Ping Pong club and Asian Student Union.
When not at work he enjoys fishing and gardening.
