Penington CEO, John Ryan, Awarded OAM
Today we’re celebrating a very special honour for our CEO, John Ryan, or, as the King’s Birthday Honours list has revealed – Daniel John Ryan – our resident international man of mystery!
John has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to community health.
Those who know John know he’ll be uncomfortable with the attention – he’d almost certainly prefer we were talking about the issues rather than talking about him. We suspect many people across public health, community services and the sector more broadly, would disagree.
For more than 25 years, John has worked in one of Australia’s most challenging and contested policy areas. He has consistently argued for evidence, compassion and common sense, often when doing so wasn’t easy, popular or politically convenient.
Through his leadership of Penington Institute and the many organisations, committees and initiatives he has helped shape, John has worked to improve health outcomes, minimise harm and encourage more informed public conversations about drugs and the people affected by them.
What stands out is not just what John has achieved, but how he has achieved it: with integrity, curiosity, generosity and an unwavering belief that good policy starts with good evidence and a genuine concern for people.
This recognition is thoroughly deserved. We are enormously proud of John and grateful for the leadership he continues to provide.
Please join us in congratulating him on this wonderful honour.