Name Wayne Ryan | ||
Alma mater Creighton University and University of Missouri Occupation Professor and medical researcher Known for Namesake of the Dr. Wayne and Eileen Ryan Surgical Simulation Suite, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Namesake of the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center, Creighton University Title Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics/Gynecology, University of Nebraska Medical Center Awards Nebraska Business Hall of Fame (2007)
Governor of Nebraska Bioscience Award (2009) | ||
Wayne Ryan is an American businessperson and academic. A US Navy veteran, Ryan has taught at both Creighton University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, retiring as Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics/Gynecology at the UNMC. He is also the founder of Streck Laboratories. He is the namesake of both the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center at Creighton and the Dr. Wayne and Eileen Ryan Surgical Simulation Suite at the University of Nebraska.
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Early life
Ryan was raised in Corning, Iowa. Upon graduation from high school, he served in the US Navy, and was a veteran of World War II. He earned his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Creighton University. He then earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri.
Academic career
His first teaching position was as an Instructor of Microbiology at Creighton University’s Medical Center. Ryan has worked as a researcher and professor at the University of Nebraska since 1964. In 1968, Ryan and his research partner Margaret Heidrick, showed the cell proliferation could be inhibited by cyclic AMP. At the UNMC, Ryan worked as Professor of Biochemistry, Research Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Dean for Research. Over his career Ryan published more than 80 academic papers and earned 58 patents, the most of any inventor to come from Nebraska. He retired as Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics/Gynecology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Business career
In 1971 Ryan founded Streck Laboratories, a medical products company. As of 2007, Streck produced about two thirds of the world’s hematology controls. It has also done work in the treatment of AIDS/HIV. It has also produced the first human-based whole blood glucose standard, for use in the treatment of Diabetes. Ryan formerly served as the company’s Chairman and CEO. In 2007 Wayne Ryan was named to the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame. In 2009 Ryan received the inaugural Governor of Nebraska Bioscience Award from Governor Dave Heineman.
Personal life
Ryan married his wife Eileen in 1948, with whom he has five children. In 2013 Ryan donated $1 million to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for the creation of the university’s surgical simulation suite. At the time, the suite was the most advanced in the United States. The suite was named for Ryan, as the Dr. Wayne and Eileen Ryan Surgical Simulation Suite. The couple are also the namesakes of the Ryan Athletics Center at Creighton University.