Maria del Pilar Ryan, Ph.D.

Colonel Maria del Pilar Ryan served 27 years in command and staff positions, including as commander of the largest field artillery battery in the United States Army. A native of New York State, Colonel Ryan had service in her blood, as her grandmother served in the United States Navy in World War I.

Colonel Ryan is a 1986 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. She continued her education, earning her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania.

Colonel Ryan began her career in the Third Armored Division in Germany, and was stationed there at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Other assignments during her service include: senior military intelligence officer for the Army’s III Corps Artillery, Weapons of Mass Destruction counter-proliferation  strategist in United States Forces Korea, and Chief of International History and full professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Upon her retirement from the Army in 2013, Colonel Ryan received the Compass Award from the Women’s Leadership Exchange, given to those “who have shifted the paradigm of how women are perceived as leaders.” Colonel Ryan lives with her family in New Windsor, New York, and continues to work in the field of leadership and leader development.

Distinguished members of the United States Army who served so valiantly and honorably in times of confl ict, deserve a special salute from the representatives of the State of New York. Our nation’s veterans, like Colonel Maria del Pilar Ryan, Ph.D., deserve to be recognized, commended and thanked for their military service and their dedication to their nation.