Gregory Ryan has taught International Relations and Comparative Politics classes at Union University since 2010. He received his B.A. from Lipscomb University and M.A. from the University of Alabama. After teaching English for a year in Beijing, he entered the doctoral program in Political Science at the University of Tennessee in 1998 and received his PhD in 2003. Upon completing his doctoral studies, Ryan joined the navy, serving first in Japan and then aboard an amphibious assault ship based in San Diego.