ryan burke

ryan burke

Degree: 2015, Ph.D.

Job Title: Assistant Professor, United States Air Force Academy

Ryan Burke (Ph.D. ’15) is an Associate Professor and Curriculum Director in the Department of Military & Strategic Studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy. As Curriculum Director, he designs and implements the academic curriculum of instruction for 22 Military & Strategic Studies courses taught to over 1,500 students per year. Ryan received his USAFA appointment after completing a Department of Defense-funded post-doctoral research fellowship in the University of Delaware’s Joseph R. Biden School of Public Policy and Administration. He also earned his Ph.D. from the Biden School where – in addition to teaching undergraduate public policy courses – he was awarded the prestigious University Dissertation Fellowship during his final year of study. Ryan’s research emphasizes defense policy and the military instrument of power across the spectrum of conflict. He has authored multiple monographs focused on defense policy; peer-reviewed journal articles; book chapters; conference papers, and winning essays in national competitions. He is also the chief editor of Military Strategy, Joint Operations, and Airpower: An Introduction (Georgetown University Press, 2018) and is an opinion contributor to The Hill on defense and military policy matters. Ryan’s research has been featured on TV and in print with Fox News, NBC, ABC, Business Insider, USA Today, The Hill, the Modern War Institute, and more. He has been an invited consultant to multiple Department of Defense initiatives and educational steering groups nationwide, serves as a peer-reviewer for multiple journals, and regularly presents his research at conferences and or as an invited speaker.

Prior to his academic pursuits, Ryan was a U.S. Marine Corps officer where he served as a platoon commander, operations officer, and company commander during his fleet tour. He then served as the Deputy Marine Officer Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania's Naval ROTC unit. After leaving the Marines, he worked as a Senior Consultant and Logistics Analyst for Booz Allen Hamilton supporting Department of Defense projects in the Pentagon and with the Marine Corps Combat Development Command. He earned his bachelor's from Penn State University – where he attended on a Marine-Option Naval ROTC scholarship – and his master's from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia prior to earning his doctorate at the University of Delaware.