James H. Ryan, PhD

James H. Ryan, PhD, was a Sergeant in the Air Force in the Korean War during which he was appointed to West Point.  He graduated from the US Military Academy in 1955, commissioned in the Infantry.  Jim had various assignments as an
Infantry unit commander and aide de camp; then the Army sent him to graduate school.  He earned an MA at the University of Pennsylvania in both English Language and English Literature and spent the next 3 years teaching English
and formal logic at West Point. 

From there, he went to Korea and was on the Eighth Army Staff there.  From Korea, by then a Major, he went to Vietnam assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Division in the Central Highlands as Personnel Officer for the 3rd Brigade of the Division (1st, 2nd, and 5th Battalions of the 7th Cavalry).  Soon, he was assigned as Executive Officer (2nd in command) of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry and Deputy Commander of an independent airmobile task force with the mission of tying down a North Vietnamese force 5 times the task force's size.  The Task Force was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for that operation which is the equivalent of the Distinguished Service Cross.  He was decorated 7 times for bravery and meritorious service in combat. 

After that, he went to the Command and General Staff College, then as a Lt. Colonel to the office of the chief of personnel on the Army General Staff in the Pentagon.  There, he was awarded the Legion of Merit.  Jim retired in 1972, went to work in a family business for a few years; then took over a small security guard agency in the Washington, DC, area.  He
built it up to about 300 guards, started a K-9 Corps, started an international security consulting organization, and did some real estate development on the North Carolina coast and in suburban Maryland.  Along the way, he attended Harvard Business School, got a Masters in Administration from George Washington U. and finished work for his Ph.D.

Jim served on the international Board of Governors of the United Services Organization (USO) for nine years and  visited every USO facility in the United States and Europe at his own expense.  He sold his company in 1987 but kept the
international security consulting operation which he operated from his home town, Petersburg, Virginia.  Most of his business was in Western Europe and Japan.  In 1993, he was elected President of the his professional association
The International Association of Professional Security Consultants.  The same year, Jim was elected President of the Historic Petersburg Foundation and the Rotary Club of Petersburg.

Jim is the author of the best practices publication on apprehending shoplifters, which apparently is used as a standard all over the country.  Jim has published articles on security in a variety of publications, and has been admitted as a
forensic expert witness in both state and Federal courts.  He retired from business in 1997 and now spends most of his time on boards of not-for-profit organizations.  His latest award is the Lifetime Achievement Award of Rotary
International.  Jim's hobby is southern Virginia history, and he lectures on that subject here and there.  His website is www.memorialdayorigin.info .