Morganton native wins prestigious mathematics award

The Rankin Award, named after W.W. Rankin, professor of mathematics at Duke University and its first recipient, is considered one of the highest honors the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCCTM) can present to an educator.

On Nov. 13, NCCTM awarded Morganton native Charles Wallis as a co-recipient of the prestigious achievement.

While teaching a variety of mathematics courses at Brevard College, Wallis spent years working across multiple committees at NCCTM. Ironically, one committee he’s not involved with determines the Rankin Award.

He explained that people generally don’t know who nominated them, but he guesses it traces back to his participation in Project Lead.

The professor said several years ago, he got the opportunity to work with Professors Holt Wilson at UNC Greensboro and Julie Kolb at Meredith College in Raleigh. Together, they created a series of professional development workshops for high school math teachers.

Wallis considered the project a gift, due to the lessons he learned around current trends in mathematics. Eventually, Project Lead grew to include faculty at several universities, and he suspects one of the other professors involved nominated him.

“The organization doesn’t want somebody to know who’s going to [win],” Wallis said. “They keep it a secret. So, there’s somebody else who’s responsible for making sure, ‘Hey, if Charles is at the conference, you get Charles there. Make sure he’s at the ceremony.”

Aside from his work with NCCTM, Wallis spent years teaching mathematics across colleges and universities.

After graduating from Freedom High School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science at North Carolina State University, followed by a master’s and PhD in mathematical sciences at Clemson University.

“In 2006, I moved across the mountains from Cullowhee to Brevard/Pisgah Forest, and have been teaching at Brevard College ever since,” he said.

A math major through-and-through, his favorite classes to teach are modern algebra — which is not like normal algebra classes, but focuses on groups and fields — calculus, and combinatorics, which highlights methodologies of counting.

According to Wallis, the Rankin Award is often reserved for people who’ve done something significant or had a major leadership role, such as being a past-president of the NCCTM like his co-recipient, Stefanie Buckner Hill. He was quick to defer praise and stay humble.

“I don’t put myself in that same echelon,” Wallis said. “I’m just very happy that there are some people who said, ‘Well, let’s recognize Charles for long-time service to the organization and his work with math education students and math teachers across the state.’ It’s just a great award to get.”