Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Alumni
  • Login
  • Volunteer
  • Clubs
  • Reunions
  • Bulletin
  • Class Notes
  • Help
  • Give Now
  • Stories
  • Alumni Directory
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Careers
  • Programs & Events
  • Giving
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Alumni→
  • Stories→

Stories

Stories

231
231 views
13 Nov 2020

A Passion for Education

Re: Bob Ryan (MBA 1970)
Topics: Philanthropy-HBS DonorsEducation-FellowshipsPhilanthropy-Giving Impact
ShareBar

Bob Ryan (MBA 1970)

Bob Ryan (MBA 1970), the first in his family to attend college, has come a long way from his Detroit roots. When the former chief financial officer (CFO) of Medtronic set up a fellowship fund at HBS, he wanted to pay tribute to those roots, so he established it in honor of his parents.

The Robert L. Ryan Fellowship has supported 18 students since Ryan launched the fellowship in 2004. Providing funding for future generations of MBA students is a fitting way for Ryan to recognize the value of education that his parents instilled in him. Ryan’s father completed fifth grade and then went to work in a factory and his mother, a homemaker, did not attend college because her father didn’t think education benefited women.

Thinking Bigger

In his parents, Ryan saw a deep determination to foster opportunities that they were denied because of their lack of education. After teaching her four-year-old how to read, Ryan’s mother visited his public kindergarten and realized he wouldn’t receive the level of learning he deserved, so she enrolled him in a local parochial school.

“I couldn’t have had better parents,” says Ryan who made them proud when he graduated from Wayne State University in his hometown and then went on to earn a master’s in electrical engineering at Cornell University. Ryan excelled at engineering, but it wasn’t his passion. “From my father, I had learned that it was important to make a good living, to have job security, and to find a career where I would be accepted,” says Ryan. “But I also wanted to do something that I loved.” Earning an MBA at HBS turned out to be a way to marry his skills and his passion, and the life-changing impact of that experience inspires him to give back.

Providing funding for future generations of MBA students is a fitting way for Ryan to recognize the value of education that his parents instilled in him.

Providing funding for future generations of MBA students is a fitting way for Ryan to recognize the value of education that his parents instilled in him.

Ryan found attending HBS to be one of the best decisions of his life. “I learned so much and made lifelong friends,” says Ryan, also giving the School credit for helping launch his career, which included working as a McKinsey consultant and a vice president at Citibank before spending a decade at Union Texas Petroleum, where he was promoted from treasurer to CFO and oversaw the company’s initial public offering. In 1993, he joined medical device maker Medtronic as senior vice president and CFO, a position he held for a dozen years and from which he retired in 2005.

Investing in Future Leaders

Ryan and his wife, Sharon, are proud parents of two adult children. They have devoted their philanthropy to supporting education, particularly for those from underserved backgrounds. Attending HBS’s MBA Fellowship Celebration is typically one of the highlights of his year. There, he meets the recipients of the need-based fellowship he established at the time of his 35th Reunion. Ryan’s fellowship honors the “vision, inspiration, and support” he received from his parents, Henry and Venicee Ryan.

Spending time with current students, he says, brings up two feelings. First, he is impressed by the extensive accomplishments and ambitious goals of today’s MBAs. Second, he feels proud to be associated with them and to be able to help them. “These young people are thinking in more mature ways than I did at their age. It took me a long time to figure out that I could enjoy work.” The world, he observes, has changed a lot in the 50 years since he graduated. Ryan is happy to see the current generation taking full advantage of the opportunities available.

ShareBar

Featured Alumni

Bob Ryan
MBA 1970

Post a Comment

Featured Alumni

Bob Ryan
MBA 1970

Related Stories

    • 01 Apr 2022
    • New York Times

    Nancy Lane Remembered

    • 07 Oct 2021
    • Contributors Report

    Planning Ahead

    Re: Steve Ketchum (MBA 1990)
    • 01 Oct 2021
    • Contributors Report

    Fueling the Faculty Pipeline

    Re: Prakash Melwani (MBA 1986)
    • 01 Oct 2021
    • Contributors Report

    Fostering Diversity

    Re: Ben Feder (MBA 1991); Victoria Lindenbaum Feder (MBA 1994)

More Related Stories

Stories Featuring Bob Ryan

    • 19 May 2022
    • Skydeck

    Leading to Salvation

    Re: Bob Ryan (MBA 1970)
    • 10 May 2022
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    Alumni Achievement Awards 2022

    Re: Tosh Barron (MBA 1972); Sal Khan (MBA 2003); Naina Kidwai (MBA 1982); Bob Ryan (MBA 1970); Bob Wilson (MBA 1961)
    • 01 Mar 2022
    • HBS Alumni News

    2022 Alumni Achievement Awards Announced

    Re: Tosh Barron (MBA 1972); Sal Khan (MBA 2003); Naina Kidwai (MBA 1982); Bob Ryan (MBA 1970); Bob Wilson (MBA 1961)
 
 
 
 
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
ǁ
Campus Map
External Relations
Harvard Business School
Teele Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
Phone: 1.617.495.6890
Email: alumni+hbs.edu
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College