Pat Ryan (executive)

Pat Ryan
Pat Ryan, October 2016
Born	Patrick G. Ryan 1936/1937 (age 79–80)
Residence	Chicago, Illinois, US
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	Northwestern University
Occupation	Founder, chairman, and CEO, Ryan Specialty Group
Known for	Founder and former chairman and CEO, Aon Corporation
Net worth	US $ 2.5 billion (November 2016)
Spouse(s)	Shirley Ryan
Children	Three
Website	ryansg.com/leader/patrick-g-ryan/

Patrick G. Ryan (born 1937/38) is an American insurance businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and retired chairman and CEO of Aon Corporation. In 2010, he founded Ryan Specialty Group (RSG) as a holding company aimed at providing specialty services to insurance brokers, agents and carriers. RSG's first subsidiary, ThinkRisk, began business in December 2009 to provide underwriting and claims management services for media, technology, advertising and network security.

Ryan was the chairman and CEO of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee and is chairman of World Sport Chicago, an organization that formed out of Chicago's Olympic bid.

Ryan is a philanthropist in Chicago. He is married to Shirley Welsh Ryan, with whom he runs the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Foundation. He is also a benefactor of the Art Institute of Chicago Building's modern wing addition.

Ryan is a member and former chairman of the board of trustees at Northwestern University, where both major athletic facilities, Welsh-Ryan Arena and Ryan Field, are named after him. Ryan owns a large minority interest in the Chicago Bears.

Ryan is the son of an Irish-American father who ran a Ford dealership in suburban Milwaukee. Ryan spent his summers shoveling concrete to help build Milwaukee's freeway system. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University's School of Business (now Kellogg School of Management) in 1959 with a degree in Finance and Literature. During his senior year, Ryan earned $8,000 selling personalized scrapbooks to dorm residents, an experience that "kindled his entrepreneurial spirit".

After graduating from Northwestern University, Ryan immediately joined Penn Mutual’s Chicago office as a life insurance agent. In 1962, Ryan founded the first Finance and Insurance (F&I) department at Dick Fencl Chevrolet in suburban Chicago, selling insurance products on behalf of Continental Casualty Company, now the primary subsidiary of CNA Financial. This move "forever changed how auto dealerships operate" and in 1964, Ryan founded Pat Ryan & Associates, a brokerage and underwriting agency. At Pat Ryan & Associates, a rigorous training program was developed to train licensed agents and place them in auto dealerships.