IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2020 - 98

society news

in memoriam
Patrick Ryan

T

THE IEEE POWER & ENERGY
Society (PES) is saddened to announce
the passing of Patrick Ryan, IEEE PES
executive director, on Tuesday, 8 September 2020.
Pat Ryan was a courageous individual who fought very hard to beat his
battle with cancer. He faced this challenge with his usual tenacity and positive attitude, but he was sadly unable to
overcome it.
Pat became the third PES executive
director in 2007 and was a driving force
in transforming PES into the secondlargest Society within the IEEE. He had
a relentless focus on the IEEE and PES
mission and vision and a strong belief
that there needed to be significant volunteer engagement to pursue anything
new. Pat was recently selected as the
2020 recipient of the IEEE Eric Herz
Outstanding Staff Member Award "for
leadership in creating a successful model for IEEE and Society memberships
by fostering member value and partnerships with volunteers."
No matter how good an idea was,
Pat would not pursue it unless there was
significant volunteer engagement. He
clearly held the volunteers at the core of
the organization. Under his leadership
as executive director, Pat drove several
significant achievements for PES, including the following:
✔✔ the name change of the Society
from the IEEE Power EngineerDigital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2020.3026223
Date of current version: 16 October 2020

98	

ieee power & energy magazine	

✔✔ the development of the IEEE

Patrick Ryan

ing Society to the IEEE Power &
Energy Society to better reflect
the PES mission and vision
✔✔ the increase in PES membership
from 22,000 in 2006 to more
than 40,000 by the end of 2019
✔✔ the development of business processes that helped increase PES
reserves, enabling the Society to
create and establish humanitarian programs
✔ ✔ the foundation of the I EEE
PES Scholarship Plus Initiative,
which has distributed more than
1,500 scholarships to undergraduate students
✔✔ the founding of IEEE PES Resource Center, providing practical content and educational
courses to industry professionals

Smart Village program, which
integrates sustainable electricity,
education, and entrepreneurial
solutions to empower off-grid
communities
✔✔ the establishment of four new publications to meet the growing demand of PES membership: IEEE
Transactions on Smart Grid,
IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, IEEE Electrification
Magazine, and IEEE Open Access
Journal of Power and Energy
✔ ✔ the expansion of the portfolio
of PES conferences to a global
audience and inaugurated Innovative Smart Grid Technologies
Conferences worldwide
✔ ✔ the development of the IEEE
Smart Grid and IEEE Smart Cities programs.
Pat had a unique sense of humor.
With his panache for making friends
and cultivating relationships, a main focus of his life, along with his cherished
wife, was to raise his three children with
strong values. He was so proud to watch
them each become positive, contributing citizens of the community at large.
He also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and
anything involving the great outdoors.
Pat is survived by his wife, Patricia
J. Hunkele Ryan, and his children Roman, Nicholas, and Bridget. For further information, please see https://
www.ieee-pes.org/about-pes/pes-staff/
in-memoriam-pat-ryan.
p&e

november/december 2020

https://www.ieee-pes.org/about-pes/pes-staff/in-memoriam-pat-ryan https://www.ieee-pes.org/about-pes/pes-staff/in-memoriam-pat-ryan https://www.ieee-pes.org/about-pes/pes-staff/in-memoriam-pat-ryan

IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2020

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