Biography of John W. Ryan

John W. Ryan is Chancellor Emeritus of the State University of New York, where he served from 1996 until 1999.  Dr. Ryan was the Founding President of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, a position he held from 1965 until 1968.  Dr. Ryan is President Emeritus of Indiana University where he served for sixteen years, from 1971 until 1987.  During his career he has also served as interim president at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Maryland at Baltimore.  

Among Dr. Ryan’s many significant accomplishments in the international education arena are the creation of the graduate public administration program at the University of Thammsat in Bangkok, Thailand; the establishment of the SUNY Center for Russia and the United States and its sister Center for the United States and Russia located at Moscow State University; and his initiative to develop SUNY’s extensive program of collaboration with the Turkish Council of Higher Education.  Throughout his life, Dr. Ryan has worked to unite people and societies through shared education and knowledge.