Patrick George Ryan

Ryan is the son of an Irish-American father who ran a Ford Motor Company dealership in suburban Milwaukee. 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, he 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. By 1968, the firm was selling $15 million in premiums a year. Ryan borrowed money to buy a dormant insurance company, enabling him to underwrite the products his company was selling. This move transformed Pat Ryan & Associates into a nationwide business, and in 1971, with $25 million in annual sales, he took the firm public. The stock offering helped raise capital to meet Ryan's long term goal: "diversification from a single line of insurance to multiple insurance products".

In 1976, Ryan changed the firm's name to Ryan Insurance Group and in 1977, he bought the retail brokerage units from Esmark Inc, "expanding into risk management services for commercial and industrial clients". In 1981, Ryan further expanded by purchasing the James S. Kemper agencies.

In 1982, Ryan Insurance Group merged with Combined International, and Ryan became CEO. The company continued to expand through organic growth and acquisitions, and in 1987, Ryan changed Combined's name to Aon. He was the company's chairman and CEO for 41 years. At Ryan's retirement in 2008, Aon operated with more than 500 offices in 120 countries generating revenues in excess of $7 billion. Aon is the largest reinsurance broker and second largest insurance broker in the world, and a leader in risk management and human capital consulting.

In 2010, Ryan formed Ryan Specialty Group (RSG), a global specialty insurance holding company with offices in North America and Europe. RSG's wholesale operation, RT Specialty, is the 3rd largest wholesale broker in the US. To date, there are 16 underwriting facilities within RSG Underwriting Managers (RSGUM).

He is married to Shirley Ryan. They live in the Chicago area and have three children.