Senior District Judge Norman Ramsey was born in Fairchance, Pennsylvania on September 1, 1922. He received a B.A. from Loyola College in 1941 and enrolled the same year at the University of Maryland School of Law. However, World War II interrupted his studies, and Judge Ramsey joined the U.S. Marine Corps.  Judge Ramsey saw action on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and he also achieved the rank of First Lieutenant.  After returning from the war, Judge Ramsey resumed his studies and received an LL.B. from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Judge Ramsey began his legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Judge William Calvin Chesnut from 1946-1947.  Afterwards, Judge Ramsey served as an assistant US Attorney of the District of Maryland from 1947-1950.  He entered private practice with Semmes, Bowen, & Semmes, where he worked for nearly three decades before he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 as Judge of the District Court of the District of Maryland.  Judge Ramsey assumed senior status in 1991 and served until his retirement in 1992.

A full year before his graduation from law school, Judge Ramsey was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1946.  Upon graduation, Judge Ramsay was awarded the Order of the Coif.  Judge Ramsay was also a member of many other organizations, including the Junior Bar association of Baltimore City, the Board of Governors of the Maryland State Bar Association, and the Board of Governors of the American State Bar Association.