Ronald Elbert Mickens was born February 7, 1943, in Petersburg, Virginia, to Joseph P. Mickens, a general construction worker, and Daisy Brown Williamson Mickens who was a part-time domestic worker. The eldest of three children, Mickens was raised primarily by his maternal grandparents. It was through discussions with his grandfather, James Williamson, that Mickens was inspired to become a scientist at age six and has credited his grandfather with his early interest in science. Mickens attended Fisk University as an undergraduate and graduated in 1964 with degrees in mathematics and physics. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1968 from Vanderbilt University and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral fellow at MIT. His studies at Vanderbilt were supported by fellowships from the Danforth Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Continuing his research efforts, he received a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to investigate elementary particle physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.