Since 2025, Ryan has served as State Folklorist at the Maryland State Arts Council, where he directs Maryland Traditions, the oldest, continuously-run state folk and traditional arts program. He administers the Folklife Network, Folklife Apprenticeship, and Heritage Award programs; manages media; administers MSAC’s constituent-requested, award-winning Land Acknowledgement Project; and has oversight of the Maryland Traditions Archives housed at UMBC. In developing the vision of the Archives, he promotes a “shared stewardship” model, in which the cultural communities represented within the collections share authority for the archival materials with repository staff.
Ryan grew up in Carroll County, Maryland, and has performed with his family’s Celtic and Nordic traditional music ensemble, Wherligig, since he was 9. He received a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a Certified Archivist and member of several professional societies, including the American Folklore Society, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, and Society of American Archivists. He has taught, presented, and published on topics in archives, culture, history, and performance.