Barry Ryan
Partner, Edu Alliance Group; former President, Woodbury University
Dr. Barry Ryan has had parallel careers in higher education and law. He has been appointed as President of five universities and as Provost and Chief of Staff at three others, spanning state, private nonprofit, faith-based and private for-profit institutions. He served as the Supreme Court Fellow in the chambers of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Dr. Ryan is a member of several federal and state bars and has been elected to two terms as a Commissioner for WASC (WSCUC). He has led institutions through mergers, acquisitions, and affiliations that preserved academic quality, expanded access, and strengthened long-term viability. His leadership is characterized by transparency, shared governance, and a deep commitment to stakeholder engagement. Dr. Ryan earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Dipl.GB in international business from the University of Oxford.