Ángel Ramos (educator)
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Dr. Ángel Ramos (born 1950 in San Juan, Puerto Rico), is believed to be one of only a few deaf Hispanics with a doctorate.
In the early 1950s, Ramos' parents left the island of Puerto Rico and moved to New York City; his parents divorced shortly afterwards and as a result he and his sister were raised by his mother, who worked as a seamstress. They lived in a poor and cockroach infested apartment building, along with a number of relatives. Ramos attended public school, leading a normal child's life until one morning in 1959, when he was nine years old, he woke and realized that he couldn't hear a thing. As he had already learned to read and write in English. He was able to hide his impairment from his mother for two years and from school by following directions on the classroom blackboard and by reading his textbooks carefully. By 1961, he had learned to lip-read which helped him to get by in both elementary and high school. Whilst most of his contemporaries belonged to gangs or were taking doing drugs Ramos would go straight home to study.
Ramos later enrolled and attended Manhattan College in New York. The problems he faced and experienced during his college years at Manhattan served as a pivotal point in his life. He soon learned sign language and by the time he was 22 years old, he earned his Bachelor's of Science degree in Mathematics.
Ramos then worked as a taxi driver until he was hired as a gym supervisor at a deaf school - with his only pay being board and lodgins. Eventually, he became a teacher at another local school for the deaf.
Ramos applied and qualified for financial assistance from the Division of National Rehabilitation and then attended the State University of New York where he earned a Master of Science Degree in Education of the Deaf. He continued his education and went on to earn a Master of Science Degree in Educational Administration from California State University; he then enrolled in the Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. and earned a Doctorate in Special Education Administration.
Ramos has held a teaching position at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. He was the founder the National Hispanic Council of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Washington, D.C.. He was also a Fulbright Scholar, author and chairman of various organizations. In February 1993, Ramos was interviewed and featured on the cover of Deaf-Life Magazine No. 8.
On August 1, 2001, Ramos was named Superintendent of the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind, located in Gooding, Idaho. The school has over 110 students with over 700 students through satellite centers in other parts of the state. He has one daughter.
In 2003, Dr. Ramos published a book that is currently being used by over 40 colleges and universities in the United States called "Triumph of the Spirit: The DPN Chronicle."
In 2005, Dr. Ramos was appointed Superintendent of Sequoia School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a charter school with three campuses - one in Mesa, AZ, a second in Phoenix, AZ, and third Campus in Peoria, AZ. The governor of Arizona also appointed Dr. Ramos as a commissioner on the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
In Jan 2007, Dr. Ramos was Resignation from Superintendent of Sequoia School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a charter school with three campuses - one in Mesa, AZ, a second in Phoenix, AZ, and third Campus in Peoria, AZ. But Dr. Ramos promised will be return to work as Superintendent of Sequoia this July 2007.
