Person
Ryan, Keith Ronald (1936 - )
- Born
- 1 February 1936
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Physical chemist
Summary
Keith Ryan is a physical chemist who retired in 2000 as a Chief Research Scientist from the CSIRO Division of Telecommunication and Industrial Physics He gained an international reputation for laboratory measurements of the rates of chemical reactions that occur in the Earth's atmosphere. His experimental studies and modelling of the chemistry of plasma etching of semiconductors gained further international recognition. In his later career Ryan led a team that developed a two-dimensional model used to calculate the impact on ozone of future supersonic passenger aircraft. The model participated in assessments by NASA and was found to be one of the best of its kind. Ryan served as Principal Lead Author for the IPCC's Special Report: Aviation and the global atmosphere, contributing key insights on aircraft effects on ozone and UV radiation.
Details
Chronology
- 1951
- Career position - Laboratory assistant Arnotts Biscuit Factory
- 1954
- Career position - Laboratory assistant Arnotts Biscuit Factory
- 1956 - 1960
- Career position - Cadet Chemist, Commonwealth Department of Defence Production
- 1959
- Education - B.Sc. (hons) (applied chemistry), University of New South Wales
- 1959 - 1962
- Award - Post Graduate Scholarship, Australian Atomic Energy Commission
- 1963
- Education - PhD (Nuclear and Radiation Chemistry), University of New South Wales
- 1963 - 1965
- Career position - Visiting Research Associate, Aerospace Research Laboratories, United States Air Force
- 1963 - 1965
- Award - Ohio State University Research Foundation Scholarship
- 1965 - 1966
- Career position - Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- 1966 - 1971
- Career position - Research Scientist (later Senior Research Scientist), CSIRO Upper Atmosphere Section
- 1971 - 1973
- Career position - Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Physics
- 1973 - 1974
- Career position - Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Physics
- 1974 - 1985
- Career position - Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Applied Physics
- 1985 - 1992
- Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Applied Physics
- 1992 - 1996
- Career position - Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Applied Physics
- 1993 - 2000
- Career position - Program Manager, CRC for Southern Hemisphere Meteorology
- 1996 - 2000
- Career position - Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Telecommunication and Industrial Physics
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Ryan, K. R., 'Collisions between ions and neutral particles', Reviews of pure and applied chemistry, 20 (1970), 81-102. Details
- Ryan, K. R. and Plumb, I. C., 'Gas-phase chemistry in the processing of materials for the semiconductor industry', CRC critical reviews solid state and material science, 15 (2) (1988), 153-200. Details
Keith Ryan and Tom Spurling
Created: 4 September 2025, Last modified: 23 October 2025