Kenneth John Ryan, MD, former chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at BWH and the Kate Macy Ladd Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Emeritus at Harvard Medical School (HMS), died on January 5. He was 75.
Ryan was widely respected throughout the medical profession and in government public policy circles and helped shape the structure and practice of modern obstetrics and gynecology, performed seminal research in steroid biochemistry and made significant public policy contributions in the developing field of medical ethics.
“Dr. Ryan was instrumental in developing specialty training programs for obstetrics and gynecology as well as broadening basic research in the field,” said current BWH chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Robert Barbieri, MD. “Today’s ob/gyn physicians owe much to Dr. Ryan for elevating and expanding their medical field.”
In 1952, Ryan graduated from HMS, magna cum laude. He completed residency training in both internal medicine (Massachusetts General Hospital and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital) and obstetrics and gynecology (Boston Lying-in Hospital and Free Hospital for Women).
In 1973, he was appointed the Kate Macy Ladd Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at HMS and as Chief of Staff at the Boston Hospital for Women.
When the Boston Hospital for Women merged with the Peter Bent Brigham and Robert Breck Brigham Hospitals to form BWH, Ryan became chairman of the institution’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology. He retired as department chairman in 1993.
During his professional career, Ryan also served as the president of the Society for Gynecological Investigation and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He also was a fellow of the Hastings Center.
Ryan is survived by his wife Marion, their three children and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge on February 9 at 2 p.m.
Memorial donations will be used to establish an honorarium for medical students pursuing research in the field of medical ethics, and may be made to the Harvard Medical School – Kenneth J. Ryan Scholarship Fund, c/o Harvard Medical School, Office of Resource Development, 401 Park Drive, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.