Education
Ryan attended De Louisiana Salle Institute and Kent College of Law.
Ryan attended De Louisiana Salle Institute and Kent College of Law.
Ryan was a Democrat. The Dan Ryan Expressway was named in his memory. When his father, Dan Ryan, Senior died in 1923, Ryan, Junior. was elected to fill out his term on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. With the exception of 1926-1930, he sat on the board until his death and served as the Board President for the final years of his life.
Highways
Ryan was a promoter of superhighways for the Chicago area, but financing was difficult before creation of the Interstate Highway System, and in 1955 Ryan engineered an ambitious bond issue program to jump-start construction of expressways in Cook County.
Dan Ryan Senior hailed from Dundrum in Company Tipperary, where his family were known as the Ryan Larrys (In Tipperary there were so many Ryans that they had to assume second names to differentiate the different families).