A self-described “stellar mortician,” Dr. Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, a professor within the Astronomy & Astrophysics Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz), studies the deaths of stars — spectacular, high-energy explosions that create the very elements humans are made of. In describing these deaths, Ramirez-Ruiz emphasizes that astrophysics isn’t something distant from our lives on earth but deeply intertwined with them.
Dr. Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz
“The fact that you and I share the universe in our bodies and that the atoms in and around us once belonged to a dying star and were synthesized there — that makes the narrative of who we are so incredibly powerful,” he says, adding that it also makes human constructs of race appear all the more meaningless.
In other words, astrophysics is about “embracing our common origin,” says Ramirez-Ruiz, who sounds as much a poet as a scientist when he speaks.
Th e White House honored Ramirez-Ruiz with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, which recognizes mentors who are expanding STEM talent, in February.
“I became an American seven years ago, so being recognized at the highest level is really an honor,” says Ramirez-Ruiz, who is originally from Mexico City. “The first thing that came to my mind was that a lot of the work that I have done has been validated. And now I have the tools to put more pressure on the system.”
He’s hoping the award will give him leverage in expanding other diversity-oriented programs. Aft er all, for Ramirez-Ruiz, increasing the number of marginalized students in STEM isn’t just a matter of social justice. It’s a matter of scientific excellence too. And, in true scientific style, he’s done his own qualitative experiments to prove this.
In one of his classrooms, Ramirez-Ruiz divided students into homogeneous groups and diverse groups and then presented each group with a complex problem that required a solution. As expected, he says the diverse groups almost always reached a more creative solution than the homogenous groups.
