Richard M. Ryan is a distinguished psychologist and leading authority on human motivation and psychological well-being with global recognition for his transformative theoretical contributions. He currently serves as Professor at the Institute for Positive Psychology & Education at the Australian Catholic University, where he has been acknowledged by The Australian as one of Australia's top researchers on the Lifetime Achievers Leaderboard. Ryan holds the additional prestigious positions of Distinguished Professor in the College of Education at Ewha Womans University and Professor Emeritus in Psychology at the University of Rochester, reflecting his exceptional standing across multiple academic institutions. As a clinical psychologist by training, he has maintained an influential career spanning several decades, bridging rigorous academic research with practical applications across diverse professional domains.
Ryan is internationally renowned as the co-developer of Self-Determination Theory, which has become the prevailing theoretical framework for understanding human motivation across numerous fields including education, healthcare, organizational behavior, and sports psychology. His groundbreaking research identifying autonomy, competence, and relatedness as fundamental psychological needs has fundamentally reshaped how educators, healthcare providers, and organizational leaders approach motivation and engagement worldwide. With extraordinary scholarly impact, Ryan ranks among the most cited psychologists globally and has been recognized as one of the eminent psychologists of the modern era, with his theoretical framework serving as the foundation for practice in schools, organizations, clinics, and sports teams internationally. His work demonstrates how supporting innate psychological needs fosters high-quality motivation, internalization of values, and optimal performance across diverse contexts and populations.
Beyond his theoretical contributions, Ryan has been instrumental in translating Self-Determination Theory into practical applications through his co-founding of motivationWorks, an organizational research and consulting firm serving Fortune 100 companies with evidence-based solutions. He regularly lectures internationally on the science of motivation and vitality, addressing how psychological need support enhances wellness, engagement, and performance across educational settings, workplaces, healthcare environments, and digital spaces including video games. Recognized among the top 20 most influential industrial-organizational psychologists, Ryan continues to advance the science of human motivation through ongoing research and scholarly collaborations while examining barriers to implementing need-supportive practices in educational institutions. His current work focuses on extending Self-Determination Theory to emerging domains while refining evidence-based practices that foster sustainable motivation, psychological wellness, and positive development across the lifespan.
