Saint Joseph's University

Ellen Ryan began her career at Saint Joseph's in 1973-74 as head coach of the school's first intercollegiate women's basketball team and guided the Hawks to a 9-2 record.  Ryan's Hawks had the distinction of opening the inaugural season against defending national champion Immaculata College, which was in the midst of capturing three straight national titles. 
 
Following that season, Ryan turned over the coaching reigns to Theresa Grentz and took a year away from Hawk Hill, returning in the fall of 1975 as the coordinator of women's athletics, which was a newly-created position. She also served as the head coach of the women's tennis team in 1976, leading the Hawks to a 12-6 record. 
 
Ryan held the coordinator of women's athletics title for six years before being named assistant athletic director in 1981-82. After 21 years in that role, Ryan was promoted to her current position of associate athletic director for varsity sports, in which she has served for the past nine years. 
 
Under Ryan's guidance, the Saint Joseph's women's athletics program has established a proud tradition and achieved great success. The program has grown from three teams in the early 1970s to the current slate of 10 varsity sports. During her tenure, Ryan has seen SJU's women's teams capture six Atlantic 10 Conference titles and amass a total of 2,091 victories. 
 
The women's basketball program alone has totaled 710 victories and made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Hawks' list of former players and coaches is impressive, and includes three Women's Basketball Hall of Famers - former head coach Theresa Grentz, former assistant Geno Auriemma and former assistant coach and player Muffet McGraw- each of whom Ryan had a hand in hiring. 
 
SJU honored Ryan in 1999 as a member of the inaugural class of the school's Athletics Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 2003 and the SJU Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. 
 
An accomplished athlete, Ryan was a three-time World Basketball Athletic Association All-American and captured a pair of South Jersey Open Tennis championships in the early 1970s. 
 
Originally from the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, she spent 16 years as athletic director and the head coach of four sports at the Country Day School of the Sacred Heart prior to coming to Saint Joseph's. Her brother, Joe Ryan, played basketball at Villanova and is also a member of the Big 5 Hall of Fame.