Curriculum Vitae

Michael I. Ratliff

Department of Mathematics and Statistics

NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

P.O. Box 5717

Flagstaff, Arizona 86011-5717

520.523.6895

e-mail: Michael.Ratliff@nau.edu

Education:

Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Mathematics, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1976

Master of Science, Department of Mathematics, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, 1969

Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Departments of Mathematics and Physics, Pacific Union College, Angwin, California, 1967

 

Academic Positions:

Professor of Mathematics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 1992-present.

Chairman, Department of Mathematics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1981-1986 and 1991-1992

Associate Professor of Mathematics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 1982-1992

Visiting Professor, Department of Mathematics, Ft. Lewis College, Durango, Colorado, 1990 (Spring semester)

Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 1976-1982

Teaching and Research Assistant, Department of Mathematics, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1971-1976

Instructor of Physics, Department of Physics, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, 1969-1971

Teaching and Research Assistant, Department of Mathematics, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, 1967-1969

 

Non-Academic Positions:

Fellow; Center for Data Insight, Flagstaff, AZ, 1997-2000

Actuary; Transamerica Life Insurance Co., Los Angeles, 1985 (summer)

Software Designer; General Electric Corp., Phoenix, 1969

Field Engineer; I.B.M. Corp., San Francisco, 1966-1967

 

Publications:

1. *Ratlif, M.I. and McShane, J.M., "It's a Holiday", 10 pages, to appear in Teaching Statistics

2. *Ratliff, M.I. and McShane, J.M., "Fibonacci-Like Sequences of Apollonian Circle Packings", 19 pages, to appear in Proceedings of the 11th Fibonacci Cinference

3.*McShane, J.M. and Ratliff, M.I., ”Dice Distributions Using Combinatorics, Recursion, and Generating Functions”, The College Mathematics Journal, vol.34, No.5, pp.370-376, November 2003

4.*Ratliff, M.I., McShane,J.M., Martinez-Cruz, Armando M.,” Technology Illustrations for Four Solutions to the Problem of Apollonius”, Mathematics and Computer Education, Spring 2003, pp.261-270

5. *Ratliff, M.I. and Martinez-Cruz, Armando M., “Stochastic Tip-Off: Simulating the NBA Playoff with a Graphing Calculator”, Mathematics and Computer Education, Fall 2002,pp261-270.

6. * Roberts, C., et al,“Intelligent Agent Modeling for Simulating and Evaluating River Trip Scheduling Scenarios for the Grand Canyon National Park”, Intelligents for Modeling Natural Resources, Oxford Press, pp.245-275,2000

7. *Martinez-Cruz, A.M., Ratliff, M.I., Contreras, J., La Investigacion de un Problema Numerico Abierto con una Calculadora con Manipulacion Simbolica, Proceedings of the Conferencia Internacional Sobre Uso de Tecnologia en la Ensenanza de las Matematicas, January 2001, pp.145-150.

8. *Ratliff, M.I., Martinez-Cruz, A.M., Contreras, J.,Problem Solving, Problem Posing, and Technology in Geometry, Proceedings of the Conferencia Internacional Sobre Uso de Tecnologia en la Ensenanza de las Matematicas, January 2001, pp.191-196.

9. * Ratliff, M.I. and Martinez-Cruz, A. ,Meet Ya’ at the Diner. Probably…Mathematics and Computer Education, Winter 2000,pp74-82.

10. *Haneuse, S., Sciacca, J., Ratliff,M.I., Factors Influencing Breast-feeding Rates Among Arizona WIC Participants, American Journal of Health Behavior, July/August 2000, pp.243-253, vol.24 No. 4.

11. Ratliff, M.I.,Where do I Use That?Applications with the TI-83 Financial Menu,Proccedings of the VII Simposio Internacional en Educacion Mathematica, October 1999, p. 268.

12. *Martinez-Cruz, A. and Ratliff, M.I., Beyond Modeling World Records with a Graphing Calculator: Assessing the Appropriateness of Models, Mathematics and Computer Education, Spring 1998, pp.143-153.

13. Ratliff, M.I., Calculus Reform and the SOA Examinations, Society of Actuaries:Conversations, No. 8, Winter, 1997, p. 3.

14. *Sciacca, J., Ratliff, M.I. and Pappas, P., Prohibiting Smoking in Restaurants: Effects on Restaurant Sales,American Journal of Health Promotion, Dec.,1997

15. *Sciacca, J., Ratliff, M.I., Effects of Incentive Based Educational Program on Infant Feeding, Knowledge, and Attitudes, Journal of Community Health, pp. 475-490, Dec. 1995, vol. 20, no. 6.

16. *Ratliff,M.I.,Qualitative Influence in Simple Linear Regression, Mathematics with Vision (Proceedings of the First International Mathematica Symposium), pp.309-316, Computational Mechanics, Boston, 1995

17. *Sciacca,J. and Ratliff, M.I., Effects on Incentive Based Educational Program on Breast Feeding Rates,Journal of the American Dietetic Association,pp. 1-10, March 1995, vol.3

18. *Ratliff, M.I. and Mone’. R.,Using Mathematica to find Minimal Length Confidence Intervals,The Pentagon, vol. 53, 1993-1994

19. *Ratliff, M.I.,Mandelbrot’s Functional Iteration and Continued Fractions,The Fibonacci Quarterly, August, 1993

20. Ratliff, M.I.,Using Interest Tables to Find Polynomial Zeros,Actuarial Research Clearing House (ARCH) Journal,1991

21. *Ratliff, M.I., Williams, R.E., Statistics – Prelude to Actuarial Science,Proceedings Statistics Education, American Statistical Association, 1990

22. *Ratliff, M.I., Condon, J., Winarski, D., Northern Arizona’s Computer Camp for Minorities, The Bent of Tau Beta Pi,  1984

23. Ratliff, M.I., Contributions of Paul Dirac to Mathematics and Human Thought,Arizona Humanities Association Journal, vol.6, No. 5, 1987

24. Ratliff,M.I., Condon, J., Payne, J. NSF-CAUSE Program Study Guide, NAU Mathematics Department, 1981

25. *Ratliff, M.I., A Geometric Motivation of Fermat’s Factoring Method, College Mathematics Journal, vol.12, No.1, 1981

26. *Ratliff, M.I., The Thue-Siegel-Roth-Schmidt Theorem for Algebraic Functions,Journal of Number Theory, 1978

* Indicates refereed paper

 

Actuarial Examinations Passed:

I have passed 11 Society of Actuaries certification examinations. I was elected a member of the Society of Actuaries in May of 1990.

 

Presentations:

I have given more than 50 presentations, from presentations at small regional conferences to presentations at large national meetings.

 

Grants:

I have been P,I, or co-P.I. on 12 funded grants, total funded value:$1,465,620

Recent Funded Grants:

1.       “Enhancing Quantitative Reasoning Using Visualization”, an NSF-CCLI grant, with J.M. McShane and J.W. Hagood.

2.        “Grand Canyon River Trip Simulation”, Nation Park Service Grant, with C. Roberts

3.       “Interactive Precalculus:Algebra, Geometry and Applications of Functions with Interactive Software”, an ABOR-Eisenhower Grant, with A.M.Martinez-Cruz

4.       “Secondary School Geometry for a New Millennium: Constructions, Investigations and Problem Solving with Dynamic Software”, an ABOR-Eisenhower Grant, with A.M.Martinez-Cruz

5.       “Meeting the New Face of Algebra: From Data to Functional Models with Statistics and Technology”, an ABOR-Eisenhower Grant, with A.M.Martinez-Cruz

6.       “Professional Development for Science and Mathematics Teachers Through Statistics and Technology: Developing Case Studies of the Colorado Plateau”, an ABOR-Eisenhower Grant, with A.M.Martinez-Cruz

 

 

Professional Memberships:

Society of Actuaries, American Statistical Association, Mathematical Association of America, Phi Kappa Phi

 

Professional Service:

Local Chapter Treasurer, Phi Kappa Phi, 1998-2002

Co-Editor of Conversations, Published by Society of Actuaries, 1995-1998

Member of MAA Life-Membership Study Committee, 1994-1998

Secretary of Southwest Actuarial Education and Research Consortium, 1994-1997

President of Southwest Actuarial Education and Research Consortium, 1993-1994

NAU representative on the Rocky Mountain Mathematics Consortium, 1995-1998

Vice President of Arizona Actuarial Club, 1995-1998

 

Awards:

Chairman’s Teaching Award: AY 1988-1989 and AY 1996-1997

University President’s Award: AY 1992-1993

Distinguished Teacher of the Year, 2005-2006, College of Engineering and Natural Sciences

 

Revised: January 25, 2006