 In 2014, he received the Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association for his efforts in creating a national infrastructure to support education and training in behavioral neuroscience and biological psychology, for his role in establishing an undergraduate neuroscience education journal, and for creating a nationally recognized mentoring program for junior faculty and undergraduate students in the neurosciences, particularly for those faculty and students from underrepresented groups in the sciences.Finally, in 2015, Ramirez received the Bernice Grafstein Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Mentoring from the Society for Neuroscience.Ramirez graduated from Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut.