John W. Ryan

John William Ryan (born August 12, 1929) is an American academic administrator who most notably served as the President of Indiana University for sixteen years.

Early life and career

Ryan was born in Chicago, Illinois and earned a B.A. from the University of Utah in 1951 and master's and Ph.D. degrees from Indiana University in 1958 and 1959, respectively.cite web
url= http://www.neco.org/awards/recipients/jwryan.html
title= John W. Ryan Educator Irish 1998 Recipient
accessdate= 2008-05-04
work= Ellis Island Medals of Honor
publisher= [http://neco.org NECO] While in graduate school, Ryan served in two professional roles: First, as a research analyst in the Kentucky Department of Revenue, then in establishing the graduate public administration program at Thammasat University. After graduating, he taught political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1962, he became executive assistant to the president of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst before moving to Arizona State University at Tempe to assume the vice presidency for academic affairs. He returned East to serve as the first chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1965.

Indiana University

In July 1968, Ryan returned to Indiana University to become vice president for regional campuses and became its fourteenth president on January 26, 1971. His 16 years of service to the university saw the establishment of two new IU campuses in New Albany (Indiana University Southeast) and in Richmond (Indiana University East), the formation of various cultural centers on the Bloomington campus, and the School of Journalism becoming a system-wide entity. Ryan retired in 1987 and was immediately appointed President Emeritus of Indiana University. He remains an active figure within the university, both as a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and as a member of several boards and committees.

In the 1979 movie classic Breaking Away he played the part as himself where the students are being lectured on their behavior at the dining hall where they fought the Cutters (a reference to stonecutters who worked in the limestone quarries in southern Indiana).

The State University of New York

After retiring from Indiana University, Ryan took on temporary administrative roles, acting as interim president at the University of Maryland at Baltimore and at Florida Atlantic University, and advising the Papua New Guinea Commission for Higher Education.

In 1996, Ryan stepped in to fill the Chancellorship of the State University of New York after his predecessor abruptly resigned.Citation
publication-date = 1996-07-02
title = SUNY Board Chooses an Interim Chancellor
periodical = The New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05EFD81339F931A35754C0A960958260
accessdate = 2008-05-04. He was asked to assume the full Chancellorship in 1997 Citation
publication-date = 1997-04-10
title = SUNY Seems Likely to Pick Interim Chief As Chancellor
periodical = The New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED9123CF933A25757C0A961958260
accessdate = 2008-05-04 and stepped down at the end of 1999.Citation
publication-date = 1999-01-14
title = SUNY's Chancellor Plans to Step Down
periodical = The New York Times
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E4DA1331F937A25752C0A96F958260
accessdate = 2008-05-04

References