Don Ragan was educated at Occidental College, University of Southern California and at the University of Washington at Seattle, receiving his PhD in 1960. He spent a year as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Innsbruck, and later, with a National Science Foundation Fellowship, at Imperial College, London, where he received a Diploma of Membership in Geology (DIC). His teaching career at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and at Arizona State University has spanned a total of 34 years, and has focused on imbuing students with a thorough understanding of geometrical and analytical techniques in structural geology. His research interests centre on the role of structural settings in structure-making processes, including studies of Alpine peridotites, glacial ice and welded tuffs.