Ric R. Castro is a native Chamorro raised on the island of Guam. Currently a tenured full professor of art at the University of Guam, he is primarily known for his paintings but also does printmaking and stone carving. Castro studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (associate degree in specialized technology) where he won Best in Show his final year; the University of Pennsylvania (bachelor of fine arts); and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (master of fine arts), where he received a Ware Travel Award to experience art in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The recipient of other numerous awards, he has exhibited his paintings and prints in the continental United States as well as Japan,Hawaii, Tahiti, and the Philippines.