Most recently welcomed as a new teaching member of the Xavier community is Dr. Ritacco.  Having grown up in a small town outside of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Ritacco attended St. John’s in Shrewsbury – a Xaverian Brothers school.  Throughout our interview, Dr. Ritacco cited his time at St. John’s as having influenced his interest in coming to Xavier.  Aside from the sports coats worn by St. John students in the hallways, Dr. Ritacco described his high school similarly to Xavier, emphasizing the sense of community eminent throughout both schools.  Dr. Ritacco then went on to receive his bachelor’s degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his doctorate from Yale.

Coming to Xavier

After completing his dissertation, Dr. Ritacco realized he was more interested in teaching than lab work, and he started at the University of Hartford, explaining, “I realized I can talk about, do, and inspire science without constantly wondering what’s that experiment that’s going to work?”  When asked to describe his initial reaction to hearing about the open teaching position at Xavier, Dr. Ritacco explained he actually reached out to our school about a decade ago to ask if there were any available teaching positions.  At the time there were none, so Dr. Ritacco was excited to hear about the most recent open position.  He described his own time at a Xaverian Brothers School as “one hundred percent the influence” in his interest in coming to Xavier.  “One of the pulling reasons I came to Xavier was because it is a Xaverian Brothers school, and that education – the faith-based education – the faculty, the family presented here, you can’t get that anywhere else.”

Looking Forward

In his time at Xavier, Dr. Ritacco is most looking forward to “watching [the students] grow up and seeing where they go from here.”  Dr. Ritacco shared how incredible it has been for him to see where his students have gone, and that seeing this growth in Xavier students is what he is most excited for in the future as he flips through an alumni magazine.

Dr. Tacco

While preparing for this interview, I had been informed that I should ask our newest teacher about the nickname some of his fellow faculty refer to him by: Dr. Tacco.  Curious whether this nickname extended to student use, I asked Dr. Ritacco if this section should even be mentioned in the article, and he laughed explaining it is alright for students to refer to him as “Dr. Tacco” – with the understanding this is done respectfully.  He went on to explain that the nickname originated during his first year at St. John’s, where Dr. Ritacco was one of thirteen Christopher’s in his class, and that overtime the Ri was simply dropped.

Outside of the Classroom

Currently, Dr. Ritacco spends most of his time outside of the classroom with his family.  He coaches his children’s sports teams and works as their Cub Scout pack’s cubmaster.  In his free time, he cycles, hence the “rubber side down” Dr. Ritacco signs his e-mails with, essentially a cyclist’s way of saying, “Be safe.”  Additionally, he coaches the WPI cycling team.

A Fun Fact and Closing Words

While a student at Yale, Dr. Ritacco’s advisor, Dr. Thomas Steitz, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  Dr. Ritacco spoke highly of Dr. Steitz saying he helped him realize “that’s my role – to mentor, to want to see others do better… it’s the students and people around me being successful that is most important.”

Finally, when asked if there was anything he would like the student body to know, Dr. Ritacco mentioned that he wants students to feel welcome in the science wing before and after school and that teachers appreciate seeing their students.  Dr. Ritacco mentioned his connections with teachers at his own Xaverian Brothers school playing a crucial role in why he wants his students to know, whether about science or not, they can “mosey on in and let me know how their week is going.”