Dan Ryan returned to Bethune-Cookman University in August 2010 and serves as the Historian/Senior Writer for B-CUAthletics.com and media contact for women's basketball, tennis, volleyball and track and field.
Since his return, Ryan has provided media support for some of the Wildcats' brightest athletic moments. Most recently, he was with the 2018 Wildcat track and field team when it sent its largest contingent ever to the NCAA Outdoor Championships at storied Hayward Field at the University of Oregon -- his first national championship as a Wildcat staffer and to South Bend, Ind. when the women's basketball team made its NCAA Tournament debut against defending National Champion Notre Dame.
His run started with the 2010-11 men's basketball team that won the program's first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season championship and made the first-ever Division I post-season appearance in the NIT and the 2011-12 squad that made B-CU's first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship game appearance. He helped in C.J. Reed being named 2011 HBCU National Player Of The Year.
He's also worked three softball NCAA regionals, with former pitcher Allison Garcia receiving 2011 All-American Honors; NCAA regionals for women's tennis and baseball as well as B-CU golf and bowling tournaments, and Wildcat football game day coverage.
Ryan has garnered three district awards in the College Sports Information Directors Association's (CoSIDA) Fred Stabley, Sr. Writing Contest -- two in 2014 and one in 2019 -- and was a CoSIDA Convention Grant recipient in 2018. A member of the Florida Press Club, Ryan won the Class C-D Best Sports Columnist Award in 2018 and has amassed five second place finishes for sportswriting and column writing.
He has also provided B-CUAthletics.com with interviews of LeBron James, Alex Rodriguez, legendary Nebraska football Coach Tom Osborne and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese.
He previously served as an assistant sports information director for the athletic department (1991-1994) and a public relations specialist (2001-2005) for the University's office of institutional advancement.
During his stint in institutional advancement, Ryan assisted in the publicity efforts for the Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center grand opening and both the retirement year of Dr. Oswald P. Bronson Sr. and the inaugural year of Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed as University President. He would also assist the Athletic Department during the playing days of NFL All Pros Rashean Mathis, Nick Collins and Eric Weems and the 2005 softball team's run to the NCAA Super Regionals.
An accomplished freelance writer, Ryan's bylines have appeared in magazines and newspapers nationwide including the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Orlando Sentinel, Washington Post, USA Today, the Dallas Morning News, the Salt Lake Tribune and Newsday. His 30 years of experience includes three years as an Orlando Magic beat writer, the 1986 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship, the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, numerous Daytona 500s including Dale Earnhardt's 1998 historic victory, several NBA and WNBA playoff series, NCAA basketball regionals, the 2009 NCAA Men's Volleyball Final Four, Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians spring training, LeBron James' professional debut and Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets summer league coverage. At BCU, Ryan has had articles appear in Athletic Administration Magazine profiling Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Lynn W. Thompson becoming the nation's longest tenured Division I Athletic Director and in CoSIDA Digest chronicling his daughter Jade's appearance on Jeopardy! being taped on the same day the BCU women's basketball team facing Florida on the SEC Network.
He has worked as Director of Communications for three indoor football leagues, was a contributing writer for the United Football League in 2010, and has done game day work for NBC, ESPN, the NFL Network, and the Green Bay Packers.
A New Smyrna Beach resident, he graduated from Warner Christian Academy and attended B-CU. He served his LDS Mission in the Ohio Akron and Ohio Cleveland Missions, and remains active in his church, serving as his ward's membership clerk.
He was Director of Internet Services for the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau where his efforts in launching DaytonaBeach.com garnered an International Web Page Award - the internet equivalent of a Grammy or Oscar -- in 1998. His time at the Daytona Beach Area CVB including stints as Director of Public Relations and Director of the Volusia County Film Office, where he was on the Florida Film Commissioners state board while facilitating location shooting for the 1996 Academy Award nominated Marvin's Room featuring Robert DeNiro, Diane Keaton and Leonardo DiCaprio as a well as a television pilot from the producers of Baywatch.
His daughter, Jade, graduated from the University of Florida and recently completed her Master's at the University of Chicago. His son, Sean, serves as a lectern at Epiphany Catholic Church in Port Orange. He also has five stepchildren and two step-grandchildren. His second wife, Donna, passed away in 2020.
