Rebecca Ryan is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University. Her research explores how the home environment shapes child development and asks what public policies can do to enhance the quality of those environments. She brings these foci to the courses she teaches in research methods and statistics, lifespan development, and early child development. Her broad aim is to link developmental psychology to child and family policy in an effort to enrich both fields.

Ryan received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, her masters of education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her Ph.D. from the Teachers College at Columbia University.