Ryan Kaufman has recently joined the Military/Veteran Success Center serving as a Military and Veteran Affairs Benefits specialist. Ryan brings 15+ years of experience in public service. As a Global War on Terror U.S. Army veteran and previous employment in the federal government and non-profit sectors, in both rural and urban areas focused on mental health, Ryan believes he has found his purpose by working with other veterans, service members and their families,

Ryan is a PhD candidate here at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), after completing an MBA with an emphasis in Leadership from Doane University in Crete, Nebraska in 2018. In his time at UNL, Ryan’s work, as a teaching assistant, an instructor of record, and research assistant, has received multiple awards and nominations: Department of Sociology Teaching Award (2021), College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant (2021, nominee), Parents Association & Teaching Council Recognition for Contributions to Students (2020). While Ryan attended UNL to study research methods, and its application toward moving policy, time with the studenthas been where Ryan has felt his impact the most. Ryan’s pedological approach permits critical discussions connecting theory to our everyday social observations.

Beyond UNL, the MVSC, and his dissertation, which explores the contextual factors influencing 12-step participants and mandated drug-court attendees, Ryan has been published in the Headstrong Project’s eBook, “Words of War,”, an all-military veteran blog, “Task and Purpose.”, and various other media outlets. Ryan is always looking to spend his spare time with his two favorite research and teaching assistants: Eden and Sawyer, his two little girls, ages 9 and 10. When the three are not watching their Huskers, they will tell you their daddy lives by the mantra: “We wouldn’t leave them behind 6,000 miles away, so there’s no way we’re leaving them behind in our backyard. Grab your gloves.”