Ramos is 2008 Graduation Speaker

A distinguished alumnus will be the guest speaker at the 2008 graduation ceremony of the Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning and Design.

Constance Ramos, who holds a bachelor of architecture degree from Kansas State University, is the star and designer of HGTV’s show, “Color Correction.” In her role as the show’s host and designer, Ramos brings her unique and award-winning design style to the show that celebrates the importance of color in design. Her role as the show’s host and designer is the perfect outlet for Ramos, combining her prodigious architectural and theatrical talents.

Ramos is an original member of the design team of the Emmy Award winning prime-time television show, ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Ramos has worked to build homes for deserving families in each episode of the television show that truly changes lives. She has appeared on the People’s Choice Awards and the Family Television Awards to accept the honor of “Best Reality Show” for the show. As part of the original design team, Ramos has lent her talents as the building and planning designer who works side by side with contractors and homebuilders who bring about the miraculous feat of building a home in just seven days. She is featured in the book of the show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Official Show Companion Book.

Ramos has also appeared on HGTV’s “Designers’ Challenge,” on which she emerged as the winning designer. She was featured on the cover of the show companion book, The Best of Designers’ Challenge by Better Homes & Gardens’ Meredith Publications. In addition to her design talents, Ramos has a theatrical flair. She appeared in the television films NBC’s “A Matter of Justice” with Martin Sheen and Patty Duke and CBS’ “Gone in the Night” with Shannen Doherty, Kevin Dillon, Ed Asner and Dixie Carter. “Gone in the Night” has been voted one of the 25 most popular films on the Lifetime Channel.

Ramos is a designer with over 15 years of professional experience. The scope of her work includes commercial, retail, and residential projects in a dozen states across the country, as well as in Venezuela. Through her company, Constance Carrell Design, Inc. based in Southern California, she has worked for a variety of corporations, including Walt Disney Imagineering, Mattel Inc., Sony Corporation, I.M. Pei & Partners, and her family’s firm, Ramos Design Corporation. Her projects consist of the design of commercial structures, multi-family complexes, regional shopping centers, cinemas, themed retail centers, hotels, and educational institutions.

Her work also includes designs for interiors and graphics, and she has lent her entertainment production design talents to recording artists Todd Rundgren and Erykah Badu, as well as to television commercials for Wal-Mart, Hallmark Cards, Kodak, and H & R Block.

Many regional theaters rely on her effective and memorable designs to enhance the story as she worked as a production designer, technical director, master of properties, wardrobe designer, set carpenter and set painter. As a dancer and an actress, her skills as a performer were put to good use when she became a professional cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL ball club.

As a member of the design team for ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” Ramos can say that the show does, in fact, change lives. She met her husband, J.J. Carrell, when he nominated his friend, Martha Walswick, a widow with nine children, for a makeover project. Ramos and Carrell have been married for over a year and live in Southern California. Ramos also met another wonderful family through the show, the Johnson family. Their son, William, is afflicted with spinal muscular atrophy. As a result of working with the Johnson family and their community on their home makeover project, Ramos has accepted the position of National Spokesperson for Families of SMA.