Ron grew up in the Greater Ville area of St. Louis, Missouri. He began college at Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) as a scholarship track and field athlete studying athletic training — the start of his accomplishments and the foundation of his vision for higher education.
He began his professional career in 1999 as an athletic trainer and professor at Eastern Kentucky University. Two years later he moved to the University of Arkansas, where he served as athletic trainer for the national champion men's track and field team, taught athletic training and earned his PhD in Kinesiology. He has also served on the faculty at the University of Tennessee at Martin and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and is a tenured associate professor of exercise science at California University of Pennsylvania (CALU), where a term as interim Dean of Graduate Studies and Research led him into education entrepreneurship.
For twenty years Ron has focused on giving back by advancing higher education and helping students succeed after graduation. In 2008 he founded Relearnit, Inc., an educator-driven firm that develops and manages online programs for U.S. colleges and universities, with an emphasis on academic excellence, student success beyond enrollment and long-term financial sustainability for partner schools.
Ron serves as CEO of Athleticare Sports Health Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that makes youth sports safer by providing affordable sports medicine services to underserved secondary schools and sports organizations. He also serves on the boards of two nonprofits, Lift for Life Gym and ACCESS Academies.
He continues to give back to SEMO. In 2015 he established an endowment that funds scholarships for students interested in athletic training, and he chairs the Advisory Board for SEMO's College of Health and Human Services — alumni who advise on the qualities and experience employers look for in graduates. Through Athleticare, he also brings high school students interested in athletic training to SEMO to experience its program and campus.
Ron lives in St. Louis with his wife, L'Erin, and son, Ronald Jr. He loves barbecue and fishing, owns the competition barbecue team Whooo? Pig Smokin' BBQ, and collects smokers, Olympic and sports art, and abstract works. An avid fan of the Olympic Games, he fulfilled a lifelong dream by serving at the Vancouver Olympic Games.