Scott Ragsdale, or “Coach,” as he is affectionately called by his students, came to Harding as a student in 1977. He always knew he wanted to coach, so he began as a physical education major. Later, he was interested in working for a radio station, so he changed his major to communication. He struggled to find something in which he was deeply interested.
In Ragsdale’s junior year, Harding School of Business offered a programming class using the BASIC programming language, and he “absolutely fell in love with it.” He remembers the first time he ran a program correctly as a “dopamine hit.” He had finally found what he wanted to do, but Harding did not offer a computer science major at the time, so he focused instead on business management.
After graduation, Ragsdale went home to Atlanta, Georgia, and discovered the vice president of information technology at Delta Airlines, Bob Ong, was a member of the church of Christ. Ragsdale called him and expressed his interest in being a programmer at Delta but was initially was shut down. Ong gave his permission for Ragsdale to continue calling, so he did, — once a week for six weeks — and eventually an interview was scheduled. Ong said, “The rest is up to you.” Ragsdale was hired and worked at Delta for two years.
In 1982, Harding started a computer science program, and Ragsdale was hired in 1984 for a one-year commitment but was asked to continue for the next two years. When he was hired full time, he taught math and computer science and worked as a volunteer football coach. Eventually he taught computer science full time and worked as an assistant football coach for many years.
Ragsdale is currently in his 39th year at Harding and is retiring in May 2024. He says he never thought about being a teacher when he was younger, but he loves engaging with students. “God has been better to me than I deserve,” he says. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
Ragsdale feels the computer science department is special because so many faculty stay for many years. In four decades there has been very little turnover. For Ragsdale, it’s always been about the students, whom he will miss most. As he prepares for retirement, he thinks of the song, “I love you with the love of the Lord,” as the way he feels about his students. He firmly believes a Harding experience is ultimately about people.
