Tommy Ratliff
Professor of Mathematics
Office: Science Center 106b
Phone: 508 286 3968
Email: tratliff@wheatoncollege.edu Personal web page
Degrees
Ph.D., Northwestern University
M.S., Northwestern University
B.A., Rhodes College
Main Interests
I am really interested in helping students to see mathematics as a lively, engaging pursuit that is intimately involved in their everyday life. A big part of this is my view that mathematics is really a liberal art that is best understood by students when they are reading, writing, and discussing it.
Research Interests
I work in voting theory, which is a branch of social choice theory. The basic problem is that when there are more than two candidates in an election, the outcome can be determined by the voting procedure used. That is, even if no voters change their preferences, it is possible to get different outcomes by using different procedures.
Recently, I've been looking at some of the issues involved with electing committees. The complications arise because the voters are selecting a group of candidates, rather than a single candidate, and the voters may have complicated preferences for the interactions among the candidates.
Teaching Interests
I am very interested in using writing assignments in all levels of mathematics courses, especially Calculus and Linear Algebra. The MAA has published Writing Projects for Mathematics Courses: Crushed Clowns, Cars and Coffee to Go, a book that I co-authored with Annalisa Crannell, Gavin LaRose, and Elyn Rykken. It is available at the bookstore on the MAA website.
I also use email reading assignments in Calculus and Linear Algebra, which has worked out really well. I have an article with Matt Boelkins of Grand Valley State about the use of these assignments at MAA Online.
You can also find alot of information about my courses at my website.
Other Interests
I am past Chair of the Northeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of America, and as often as committee meetings (and my aching body) allow, I'm a regular at the Friday lunch basketball games.
Selected Publications, Creative Work or Performances
"Selecting committees", Public Choice, Vol 126 (2006), pp 343-355.
"Some startling inconsistencies when electing committees",
Social Choice and Welfare, Vol 21, Num 3 (2003), pp 433-454.
"A comparison of Dodgson's method and the Borda count",
Economic Theory, Vol 20, Num 2 (2002), pp 357-372.
"A comparison of Dodgson's method and Kemeny's rule",
Social Choice and Welfare, Vol 18, Num 1 (2001), pp 79-89.
"A geometric approach to voting theory for mathematics majors", in Innovative Methods in Courses Beyond Calculus published in the MAA Notes series, 2005.
Crushed Clowns, Cars, and Coffee to Go . . . Writing Projects for Mathematics Courses, with A. Crannell, G. Larose, and E. Rykken, published in the Classroom Resource Materials series of the MAA, 2004.
"How we get our students to read the text before class", with M. Boelkins, FOCUS, Vol 21, Num 1 (2001), 16-17. Also available here.