He entered the University of Utah at the age of 16, where he joined Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity and earned a B.S.

In 1946 he returned to California to become director of research for the electronics department of Hughes Aircraft, and his career became coupled with that of Dean Wooldridge.

Together they formed a successful team for many years, with Wooldridge concentrating on investment and general business aspects while Ramo led research, development and engineering.

In October 1953 an Assistant Secretary of Defense, Trevor Gardner, created a committee to consider the future of guided missiles.

This Strategic Missile Evaluation Committee (SMEC) was headed by John von Neumann and included both Ramo and Wooldridge.

The Atlas would go on to serve as the launch vehicle for NASA's Project Mercury orbital flights, starting with John Glenn in Friendship 7.

USAF General Bernard Schriever, head of the ICBM program, described Ramo as "the architect of the Thor, Atlas, and Titan" rockets.

[3] During a series of key experiments of ballistic missiles in the 1950s at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at which Ramo and Air Force General Bernard Schriever were observers, test rockets kept blowing up on their launch pads.

When one missile rose about 6 inches before toppling over and exploding, Ramo reportedly beamed and said: "Well, Benny, now that we know the thing can fly, all we have to do is improve its range a bit."

In 1980, then-President-elect Ronald Reagan asked Ramo to assemble a transition task force to advise on executive branch appointments where science and technology background was desirable.

In 1988, Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity inducted Simon Ramo, Lambda (Utah)'33, into its Alumni Hall of Fame Archived September 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.