Patrick G Ryan
Chairman
Patrick Ryan is Chairman of the Board for World Sport Chicago. In this role, Mr. Ryan oversees the long-term strategy for the organization and is responsible for developing and directing its strategic partnerships within the Chicago community. Ryan came to World Sport Chicago as the former Chairman and CEO of Chicago 2016, the organization responsible for managing Chicago's Bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Ryan is the Founder and retired Chairman and CEO of Aon Corporation, the largest insurance and reinsurance broker in the world, and a leader in human capital consulting. At age 26 Ryan started as an entrepreneur, founding an insurance agency that grew to become Aon, which today operates with more than 500 offices in 120 countries. He returns to those entrepreneurial roots once again as he endeavors as Chairman and CEO of the Ryan Specialty Group, an insurance services company.
Ryan is on the board of trustees of Northwestern University. He is also an owner/director of the Chicago Bears Football Club.
Ryan has received a number of accolades throughout his career. In June 2009, Ryan was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Northwestern University. In 2008, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and independent research centers. Ryan has also received the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Award and the Order of Lincoln medallion, the highest award granted by the State of Illinois, for his lifetime of accomplishment.
Bill Scherr
President
Scherr was a three-time All-American Wrestler at the University of Nebraska, World Champion and member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. In addition, Scherr won five consecutive world-class medals during his wrestling career, including a World Championship in 1985 and an Olympic bronze in 1988. He has been an active member of the U.S. and world wrestling communities for over 20 years, serving as a distinguished coach at the collegiate and national level. In addition to competing in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Scherr has a personal connection to the Olympic movement; his twin brother, Jim, has been a very active leader for both USA Wrestling and thee United States Olympic Committee. Professionally, Scherr has over 15 years of business and investment banking experience. He is currently a Vice President in Goldman Sachs' private wealth management group and has been with the company since 1990.
Bill Vail
Treasurer
Bill is a senior vice president and Director of Operations at US Equities which he has been part of for over 25 years. He has also been a leader in US wrestling. A former world-class freestyle wrestler, Vail continues his involvement with the sport as a coach, team leader and administrator. He was the assistant completion director of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, competition manager for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, administrator and coach for the 1992 Olympic Team, Treasurer and chairman of the finance committee for U.S.A. Wrestling, Team Leader and coach for Olympic, World Cup and World Championship Competition.
Jack Rusher
Secretary
Jack is an outstanding businessman in Chicago and has been a strong force in US rowing. He is an Olympian and competed in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics in the coxed 8 man and 4 man rowing shells. His shell took home the bronze medal in the 1988 Games in Seoul and came in fourth in 1992. This followed a strong rowing career at Harvard as one of their top rowers.
Scott Myers
Executive Director
Myers has lived in the Chicago area for over 25 years. During that time he worked in the management consulting firm Accenture. He retired as a managing director of the firms North American Healthcare practice in 2007. Since that time he has served as executive director of World Sport Chicago, helping to define the strategy and launch the organization as the "living legacy" of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid.
Peter Bynoe
Director
Peter has been very active in Olympic and professional sports locally, nationally and internationally. As Executive Director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, he oversaw the development of the new Comiskey Park, now known as US Cellular Field, between 1988 and 1992. He advised the Atlanta Committee for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games on the development and reuse of its Olympic Stadium. He is currently part of a team advising the London Olympic Delivery Authority on its preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics. For the past thirteen years Peter has led DLA Piper US LLP's Sports Facilities Development Practice Group. For the past thirty years he has been deeply involved in the Chicago community. He has served as Chairman of The Chicago Landmarks Commission, Chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission and Chairman of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. Peter is a Life Trustee of the Goodman Theatre, a Trustee of the Rush University Medical Center and a Director of the CORE Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.
Jerry Colangelo
Director
Colangelo, a Chicago native, played both high school and college basketball, receiving all-state basketball honors as a high school senior as well as Big-Ten honors as a senior at the University of Illinois. He has served as the CEO and chairman of the Phoenix Suns franchise and has been an owner of the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. Jerry is currently serving as Chairman of the NBA Board of Governor. He also served as Managing Director of the USA Mens Basketball team at the Beijing Olympics. Colangelo has served on the board of directors of the Phoenix Art Museum, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Athletes in Action and Phoenix Suns Charities. Colangelo continues to support Chicago through the Colangelo Gymnasium and the Colangelo Center, currently under construction in Chicago.
Michael Conley
Director
Conley is a Chicago native and attended Luther High School South, where they won both basketball and track and field state championships. He is a Gold Medal Olympian and World Champion in the triple jump, holding both outdoor and indoor records. Prior to joining World Sport Chicago, Conley served as the Executive Director of Elite Athlete Programs for USA Track & Field.
Sandy Dukat
Director
Sandy Dukat, born & raised in OH and a graduate of Wittenberg University, competed against able-bodied athletes her whole life. Dukat was born with a limb deficiency in her right foot, and when she was four years old, her leg was amputated above the knee. Dukat joined the swim team at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in 1996 and soon was a major force in Paralympic sports. Dukat is an extremely accomplished athlete, winning honors in skiing, swimming, triathlon, running, and cycling. She competed for the U.S. Ski Team in both the 2002 and 2006 Paralympic games in Salt Lake City and Torino, winning 3 bronze medals, two for slalom in consecutive games and one for the super G in 2002. Dukat also teamed with four other women with disabilities to climb Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro in September, 2007. Dukat acts as an athlete representative for World Sport Chicago.
John Rogers
Director
Rogers is a life long Chicago resident. At the age of 24 he founded Ariel Capital and has served as Chairman ever since. Beyond Ariel, John serves on the Board of Directors of three Fortune 500 companies, Aon Corporation, Exelon Corporation and McDonald's. His civic mindedness and commitment to the community is demonstrated by his roles as Director of the Chicago Urban League, Trustee of the University of Chicago and member of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. John graduated with an AB in Economics from Princeton University where he was also captain of the Varsity Basketball Team.
Jack Sandner
Director
Sandner, a Chicago native, served as the Chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for thirteen years. Sandner, who joined the CME in 1971, has served continuously on its board of directors since 1977 and is the longest serving, Board Director in the CME's history. He was elected to a 16th consecutive two-year term to the CME Board in April 2007. After 22 years he recently stepped down as Chairman and CEO of RB&H Financial Services, a clearing member of the CME to become Chairman of E*Trade Futures, LLC.; Sandner is a trustee of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and The Museum of Science and Industry. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago and he is Chairman of The Cancer Institute at Rush University Medical Center.