Chief Executive Officer, The Design and Technology Association
Tony Ryan worked in education for 33 years, spending 18 years in senior management as a deputy and almost twelve as a headteacher in two very diverse secondary Academies. Tony has worked with a range of organisations both as a trust member and at board level. Towards the end of his final headship, he led a secondary free school bid from inception through approval to planning for an £18 million new-build secondary school, which opened its doors to students in 2018.
Tony entered teaching almost by accident, rediscovering a love of learning while working as a motor vehicle engineer. He completed his initial teacher training in London with the ILEA, qualifying as a teacher of design and technology. He later completed an MA in Educational Studies, majoring in the use of information technology, and went on to teach and lead in this area across several schools.
Tony is the Chief Executive Officer of The Design and Technology Association. He is an active Fellow of The Royal Society of the Arts, a Member of the IET, and a member of several steering groups for educational bodies nationally. He is currently part of a small team of three working with the DfE to rewrite the National Curriculum for D&T.
In his spare time, he is an avid fan of Brentford FC, a keen beekeeper, and plays the saxophone badly.
