Philosophy professor Toño Ramirez is rated as one of De Anza College’s best instructors ratemyprofessor.com, praised for his casual teaching style and his devotion to his students’ education.

Ramirez said as a teacher, he needs to make students interested in what he is teaching. He gains student interest by relating lessons to students’ lives.

“A lot of people think philosophy is just something old white guys debated a long time ago,” Ramirez said. “I try to relate my lessons to the students.”

Trang Nguyen, 20, psychology major said Ramirez is one the best teachers at De Anza. She enjoys how he teaches with films and outside materials, making the class more engaging and enjoyable.

But students should not expect an easy class for an easy A. Humberto Campos, 20, communication major said Ramirez expects his students to work for a good grade.

“He assigns a lot of reading,” said Campos. “You will have assignments due every week.”

Despite the workload, Campos highly recommends the class.

“Everyone should take classes that challenge you and his definitely challenges you,” Campos said. “The workload seems intimidating at first, but he provides continual support on each of the assignments.”

John Fausiino, 22, communication major said the qualities that determine success in Ramirez’s classes are punctuality with the reading assignments and participation in class.

“Students who commit to doing the work will be not only do well in the class, but will learn personal, life skills,” said Fausiino.

When confronted with the fact several of his students left comments about his attractiveness on social media, Ramirez smirked and responded he finds it some-what creepy and does not want his wife to see them.

Born in San Clemente, Ramirez obtained his B.A. in philosophy from UC Santa Cruz.

He received practical experience teaching college students as a teacher’s assistant while working on his master’s degree from Brown University. Ramirez then discovered his desire to teach.

Ramirez remains humble,acknowledging his high score on ratemyteacher.com represents the opinions of the most passionate voices but does not represent all the students’ opinions.