Memorial photo of Dr. Shamir Ratansi posted outside the offices of faculty in the Department of Criminal Justice in Health Sciences I.
Jayden Hermitt
Students and faculty have spent the past few weeks mourning the loss and remembering the legacy of a UCF professor and alumnus who died earlier this semester.
Dr. Shamir Ratansi, a full-time lecturer in the Department of Criminal Justice, died on Feb. 14 due to an unexpected medical condition, said Dr. Eugene Paoline, professor and chair of the department.
Paoline said that Ratansi, who was 58, was a “phenomenal person and a phenomenal teacher.”
“This was a big shock to our department, but also a big loss,” he added.
Ratansi earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Calgary in Canada in 1992. Following, he earned his master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Central Florida in 1999.
He earned his doctoral degree in criminal justice in 2005 from the University of Cincinnati, where his dissertation focused on the handling of individuals with mental disorders by the police. Ratansi’s areas of expertise in criminal justice included policing, criminology and criminal justice administration.
Ratansi joined UCF’s Department of Criminal Justice as an adjunct instructor in the Summer 2020 semester and became a full-time lecturer in Spring 2023. Ratansi served as a lecturer in the department’s undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs. He taught a wide variety of criminology and criminal justice courses.
Outside the professional realm, colleagues say Ratansi’s hobbies included traveling around the world, biking and wristwatches.
Colleagues said Ratansi had a heart of gold and was admired by his fellow faculty members and his students.
“He was respectful to the people around him,” Paoline said. “He treated students and his faculty members like gold. The conversations that you had with him were meaningful to him.”
Paoline also said the Department of Criminal Justice has decided to rename its Excellence In Teaching Award to the Shamir Ratansi Excellence In Teaching Award in honor of the late professor.
Dr. Richard Paul, lecturer in the Department of Criminal Justice, said Ratansi’s vibrant personality boosted the mood of the people around him.
“He’s probably one of maybe two people that I’ve ever met that just made you smile every time you saw him,” Paul said. “I never saw him in a bad mood; he never put anybody in a bad mood. He just always had a bright, smiling personality.”
Brendan Rafter, a master’s student studying criminal justice, said Ratansi left an indelible mark on him.
“He definitely had a huge positive impact on my life,” Rafter said.
He said Ratansi was his first in-person professor when starting the master’s program in Fall 2024. Rafter said he was apprehensive coming back to school to pursue higher education 30 years after earning his bachelor’s degree, but said that Ratansi’s deep sense of care for him and the other students in class encouraged him to keep going in the program.
“He took an interest in every student in the room,” Rafter said. “He made a point of learning everyone’s names, and he was incredibly supportive. When I had him as a professor, I was like, ‘This is a great reintroduction to school.’”