Born Rashko Stoyan Gerganoff January 19, 1887 in Kereka, Bulgaria, Ralph S. Gerganoff immigrated to the United States in October, 1905. He lived for a time in Madison, Illinois working as a cabinet maker before moving to Fredonia, New York in 1907 where he earned his high school diploma and improved his English. In 1910, he enrolled at the University of Michigan and after attending as both a part-time and full-time student completed his Bachelor's degree in architecture in 1917 and passed the State Board examination the same year he bacame a US Citizen, 1920.

Gerganoff worked for the architectural firm of Donaldson and Meier in Detroit before establishing his own firm in Ypsilanti in 1925 where he also lived. His early work focused on apartment buildings, a relatively new concept at the time, and houses of worship including the St. Clement Eastern Orthodox Church in Dearborn. In the mid to late 1930s as the campus of the Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) began a building boom, he designed a number of projects for the College including the Horace Rackham School that housed the Special Education program, a model for facilities educating children with disabilities; King, Goodison, Brown, Munson, Jones, and Goddard residence halls, as well as Pierce Hall that replaced what was referred to as the "Old Main" building.

In addition to the buildings designed for the Michigan State Normal College, Gerganoff designed a number of school for the Ypsilanti Public Schools including Estabrook, Chapelle, George, and West Middle School. His work can be seen in buisness and office buildings in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti as well as in residential structures primarily in Ypsilanti. Gerganoff died November 25, 1966.