On any given day, conversations with Dr. Thomas Ratkovich can feature topics so unrelated yet masterly that they鈥檙e hard to absorb. They could involve the first isomorphism theorem, the best law enforcement training for active-shooter drills, the work of heralded British mathematician Andrew Wiles, the finer points of driving forklifts and snowplows, how to protect crime-scene evidence, or the definitions of topological groups and closure axioms.
The key is recognizing the speaker. Is it Dr. Thomas Ratkovich, the chair of the baby直播鈥檚 Department of Mathematics? Or is it Cpl. Thomas Ratkovich, the field training supervisor for the UWA Police Department?
One Man, One University, Two Different Positions
鈥淭o me, apart from the uniform, I鈥檓 one and the same,鈥� Ratkovich said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a cop over there, even if I鈥檓 in street clothes. And I鈥檓 a mathematician over here, even if I鈥檓 in my uniform.鈥�
Literally, in fact.
A UWA faculty member since 2001, Ratkovich spent years mimicking Clark Kent in the phone booth鈥攕witching between professorial garb and a police uniform鈥攄epending on his schedule, often multiple times a day. His students saw a civilian teacher. People walking across campus saw an officer on patrol. He smirks at the thought: 鈥淚 was a master of changing clothes after teaching.鈥�
Ratkovich鈥攌nown by colleagues as 鈥淐pl. Rat鈥濃�攏o longer bothers with that charade. It鈥檚 wasted time. If he鈥檚 on campus, he鈥檚 almost always in uniform, ready to respond as an officer if needed. Parents of UWA students, said Police Chief Josette White, 鈥渁re amazed and pleased to know this adds another layer of safety for their students.鈥� Ratkovich is convinced that students don鈥檛 flinch at the sight of an armed university police corporal guiding their lessons.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e used to it because most of them come from small high schools around here in rural areas where everyone there wears five or six hats,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ost of them respect it. Every class I鈥檝e ever been in, they鈥檝e always thought it was cool that their professor is also a police officer. So there鈥檚 no real line of delineation between the classroom and the patrol vehicle.鈥�
TV Cops And Mathematical Notations
How Ratkovich assumed this career duality matters, given its uniqueness, but it鈥檚 important to note that it occurred organically. There was no agenda to do both. Whether coincidence or fate, an intelligent student from Chicago鈥檚 northwest suburbs excelled at the highest levels of math, owned what he describes as a 鈥渃op mentality,鈥� and held a deep-seated belief in the value of public service and safety.
For the latter, 鈥淎dam-12鈥� is partly to blame.
From 1968 to 1975, that television drama gave viewers a glimpse of then-modern law enforcement through the eyes of fictitious Los Angeles patrol officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed. Ratkovich so adored the show that today he still remembers its opening sequence. 鈥淚 was a typical little kid,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 always wanted to be a police officer when I grew up. Most young boys at some point say they want to be a police officer. I was no different.鈥� When officers would visit his school, their comportment made an impression. He noticed the shine of their uniform badges. 鈥淎s I got older,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 always had a respect for law enforcement 鈥� not just law enforcement officers, but law enforcement in general.鈥�
Mathematics, though, guided his career pursuit because of two unallied factors: aptitude and geography. Math came naturally to him. He enjoyed the mental challenge and being the math whiz others would ask for help. He benefited from an Illinois state public school system that at the time ranked among the nation鈥檚 substantive units. Chicago鈥檚, he recalls, was particularly strong.
He learned mathematical notation in the second grade. He learned the concepts of natural numbers, rational numbers, real numbers and integers. He learned the letter designations of those number sets. And he took to it with aplomb. 鈥淚t really impressed upon me at a very early age that I could understand what (the teacher) was saying,鈥� he said.
Math never strayed as his academic constant. It鈥檚 what brought him south for degrees at Mississippi Valley State University and the University of Southern Mississippi, and what eventually convinced him to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of baby直播, though he harbored no intention of teaching. With two degrees, Ratkovich expected to work in a technical job, perhaps as a computer programmer. That was the plan. But brief classroom experience as a graduate assistant at USM and at a community college in Tennessee plotted a course that in 2001 brought him to UWA鈥檚 faculty in the Department of Mathematics. Law enforcement would have to wait.
鈥淎fter teaching two years (in Tennessee) and one year at USM,鈥� Ratkovich said of his decision to earn his Ph.D., 鈥淚 knew that I had more left in me.鈥�
Turning Wrenches For Relaxation
Ratkovich hasn鈥檛 always taught or worn a police uniform. He鈥檚 worked in warehouses. He鈥檚 driven forklifts. His brother, a police officer in Illinois, owned a snowplow business, so Ratkovich has moved banks of lake-effect snow in Chicago. One job, two jobs, however many it takes.
Nearly a decade after joining the UWA faculty, Ratkovich became a campus security officer, an acknowledgement of his appreciation for law enforcement. That was 2010. Fourteen years later, Ratkovich is now the math department鈥檚 chair and a key member of White鈥檚 command team. After receiving Field Training Officer certification at the Jefferson County Sheriff鈥檚 Department Law Enforcement Training Academy, Ratkovich installed the UWA Police Department鈥檚 first field training and evaluation program.
White considers Ratkovich more than a single member of the university鈥檚 police department. 鈥淐pl. Rat loves serving for the greater good, not for recognition or reward. He is the epitome of a servant-leader,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e brings so much joy to our department, and we will forever be grateful for his service.鈥�
In uniform and sitting in a conference room at Craiger House, home to the UWA PD, Ratkovich points out a window toward the Math and Science Building on the campus鈥� southern side. It鈥檚 how he ties his two roles together. 鈥淭he administrative skills and the leadership skills that I have over there are exactly the same ones that I use over here,鈥� he said.
Ratkovich then bounces from story to story. How it鈥檚 common for students to notice him while he鈥檚 on duty as a police officer. How he occasionally answers students鈥� math questions while sitting in his patrol car. How his brain is 鈥渉ardwired鈥� on repetition as the key to learning complex mathematical equations. How he couldn鈥檛 pick which role he most enjoys鈥� professor or police officer鈥攂ecause it equates to choosing a favorite child. How his ingrained belief in safety still resonates within him. It鈥檚 here that his lifelong 鈥渃op mentality鈥� has a specific definition. 鈥淚t means I鈥檓 going to protect you, whoever you are,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to make things safe. Every job I鈥檝e ever had, I was on the safety committee. If you go to the police academy, what do they tell you? The first, most important thing is officer safety. It was just right up my alley.鈥�
So, too, is turning wrenches. That鈥檚 how Ratkovich, the math chair and field-training supervisor, relaxes from the strain of two roles. Not by fishing. Not by climbing a deer stand. Not by avoiding bogeys. Not by binging Netflix. 鈥淚 lay under my truck and change the oil,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how I decompress. I turn wrenches.鈥� He finds it soothing, a quiet time away from the inherent stress of academia and policing.
Ratkovich could have chosen a simpler way, perhaps taking on fewer responsibilities or ancillary duties. But that wouldn鈥檛 be him.
鈥淒o you want a job that you love, or do you want a job that you tolerate?鈥� he asked. 鈥淚f you love what you do, then you never work a day in your life. That鈥檚 true for me.鈥�