Ralph Cicerone was born on 2 May 1943 in New Castle, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Carol Ogata. He died on 5 November 2016 in Short Hills, New Jersey, USA.
He attended MIT and received his doctorate from the University of Illinois in 1970. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan. He later joined the Scripps Institution and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. In 1989, he joined the UC-Irvine faculty and became chancellor there in 1998.