Oregon Governor Tina Kotek appointed Bill Ryan, the former Deputy Director of the Department of State Lands (DSL), as acting director of ODA, effective Tuesday, September 5, 2023. Ryan will assume responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day administration of the Department until the Governor has completed the recruitment for a permanent ODA director.
Ryan has served the State of Oregon for 27 years at the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL). Bill started his professional career in Southern California, providing environmental planning and habitat restoration expertise for various planning and engineering firms.
Before coming to ODA, Ryan served as deputy director at DSL. His duties included the implementation of Oregon's Removal-Fill and Wetlands Conservation laws protecting the state's waters, managing state-owned waterways to preserve public trust values, and managing the Common School Fund trust lands statewide to generate revenues for Oregon's public K-12 schools.
Ryan's natural resource career focus started at a young age. He earned an undergraduate degree in Geography Ecosystems Management from UCLA and a master's degree in biology from California State University, Fullerton. Ryan is also a board member of the Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM). He also serves on the Board of the Oregon Public Management Association, which provides networking and low-cost training opportunities for managers and aspiring managers in public service. He enjoys hiking, camping, traveling, skiing, choral singing, being a grandpa, and reading good books in his spare time.