John Ryan began his work after graduating from NUI Galway and the City and Guilds Institute, London. After university, he pursued extensive private studies in the field of electronics with an emphasis on television and began his career in that medium. He worked with RTÉ in 1966, moved to Yorkshire Television and then moved to California in 1974. The burgeoning field of telecommunications technology provided the space for John Ryan to exercise his wideranging, creative abilities. In 1976 he became the Director of Research at Amplex Corporation and in 1983 co-founded Macrovision Corporation. A year later he invented a technology which has since become the world-wide standard for copyprotection of video programmes, a technology that is today included in virtually every DVD player manufactured in the world. John Ryan is former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Macrovision, a multi-national company which is listed on the NASDAQ. Over 60 patents in the fields of television camera design, video scrambling and video copyprotection have been credited to the work of John Ryan. In 1997 John Ryan was named Silicon Valley’s ‘Inventor of the Year’ for these and other innovative projects in the area of television technology. John Ryan’s continuing commitment to his home town is shown by his sponsorship of the Excel Centre heritage project through American Ireland funding. The Excel Centre, dedicated to the development of artistic and cultural life in Tipperary Town incorporates the Ballet Ireland workshop for children; the project has brought new life into the centre of Tipperary and created a focal point for its rich cultural history. John and Pauline Ryan have also provided annual scholarships to three secondary schools in Tipperary. Paul O’Callaghan, Principal of St Ailbe’s Secondary School noted that these funds “promote hope and practical wellbeing where most needed”. The Tipperary Technology Park also benefited from seed capital assistance provided by John and Pauline. This €1.7 million project has generated employment in a state-of-the-art Enterprise Centre. John Ryan is also a valued friend of the University of Limerick In April 2005 John Ryan was awarded with an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the University of Limerick.