Jim Ryan, Leading Designer
Corporate air travelers and railroad commuters in the United States may not know his name, but they have almost surely been in surroundings designed by Jim Ryan. As a senior partner at Henry Dreyfuss Associates, Mr. Ryan worked on jet interiors for American Airlines and for the business jet manufacturers Gulfstream, Falcon, and Honda, as well as projects for Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, the Long Island Rail Road, and the New York City subway.
Mr. Ryan, a resident of Northwest Woods in East Hampton, died on Aug. 28. He was 79.
Working for many years at Polaroid, from 1969 to 1996, he was involved with several versions of its folding cameras, the Polavision instant movie system, and solid-body cameras, as well as the company’s many medical devices.
He later worked on projects for the Electricity Commission of New South Wales, Australia, on the design of transmission facilities; Israel Aircraft Industries, on business aircraft; Eicher Goodearth of New Delhi, on the interior design of commuter buses, and Xian Aircraft of China, on the interiors of turboprop commuter aircraft.
He was born on June 24, 1937, in Mount Carmel, Pa., to Martin Ryan and the former Catherine Cain, and graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1960.
He was a guest lecturer in design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Cornell University, Harvard Business School, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Pratt Institute, Ohio State University, Rhode Island School of Design, and at his alma mater, the University of the Arts.
In the early 1970s Mr. Ryan was part of an ad-hoc group in Manhattan, Parents for Improved Playgrounds, that designed a play space at 100th Street and Central Park West, whose construction was paid for by Estee Lauder and that later won a design award.
An active member of the Industrial Designers Society of America, he was its president, and later chairman of its board, in the 1990s.
Mr. Ryan loved living in East Hampton, his family said. Some of his favorite activities were walking from Wainscott Beach to Georgica Pond with his grandchildren, going to the East Hampton Cinema, dining at Pierre’s restaurant in Bridgehampton, and visiting the LongHouse Reserve often each season.
With his wife, the former Marilyn Olivet, who he married in 1964, he was active with Ellen’s Run for the Ellen Hermanson Foundation.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Cristina Ryan Raggio of Babylon, and a son, James Michael Ryan Jr. of Mandeville, La., and four grandchildren.
A celebration of his life will be held at a later date. Donations in his honor can be sent to Ellen’s Run, The Ellen P. Hermanson Foundation, P.O. Box 4098, East Hampton 11937.