About me
Dr. Josh Ryan is a Supervisory Social Science Research Specialist with the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), where he conducts research on threat assessment and targeted violence. Dr. Ryan has investigated the background, thinking, and behavior of assassins, terrorists, mass attackers, school attackers, and more, and has contributed these findings to publicly available comprehensive reports published by NTAC. In addition to this research, Dr. Ryan provides trainings on threat assessment and preventing targeted violence and aids NTAC’s consultation program, which provides individualized guidance at no cost to individuals or entities that are developing threat assessment policies or that are conducting a complex threat assessment analysis.
Prior to joining the U.S. Secret Service, Dr. Ryan worked as a researcher and social psychologist for numerous institutions. Beginning in 2012, Dr. Ryan conducted research for the University of Connecticut to evaluate and improve multiple programs and initiatives aimed at reducing child abuse and neglect. Dr. Ryan also served as a Research Fellow for Harvard University, conducting psychophysiological assessments to assess the coping and resiliency of children and adolescents with depression, anxiety, trauma, and conduct disorders. He obtained his doctoral degree in social, decision, and organizational psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2021, and has researched numerous topics, including violence and aggression, empathy and helping behaviors, attachment, insecurity, and the forming, maintenance, and dissolution of close interpersonal relationships.
