Leo J. Ryan Award
Encyclopedia
The Leo J. Ryan Award was established by the Leo J. Ryan Education Foundation in honor of Congressman Leo J. Ryan
; the only United States Congressman to be killed in the line of duty. He was assassinated in Guyana
, while investigating Jonestown
and The Peoples Temple
. Ryan was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. The Foundation was originally titled "Cult Info", and changed its name in honor of the congressman in 1999. It is based in Bridgeport, Connecticut
. The first award was given in 1981.
Prior to the establishment of the Foundation, Margaret Singer
was given the "Leo J. Ryan Memorial Award" in 1978, for research on cults, from Citizens Freedom Foundation.
Recipients
Recipients of the award include:
Congressman Ryan
Leo Ryan
Leo Joseph Ryan, Jr. was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Representative from California's 11th congressional district from 1973 until he was murdered in Guyana by members of the Peoples Temple shortly before the Jonestown Massacre in 1978.After the Watts Riots...
; the only United States Congressman to be killed in the line of duty. He was assassinated in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, while investigating Jonestown
Jonestown
Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...
and The Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple was a religious organization founded in 1955 by Jim Jones that, by the mid-1970s, included over a dozen locations in California including its headquarters in San Francisco...
. Ryan was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. The Foundation was originally titled "Cult Info", and changed its name in honor of the congressman in 1999. It is based in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
. The first award was given in 1981.
Award recipients
DescriptionPrior to the establishment of the Foundation, Margaret Singer
Margaret Singer
Dr. Margaret Thaler Singer, was a clinical psychologist and a part-time Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S....
was given the "Leo J. Ryan Memorial Award" in 1978, for research on cults, from Citizens Freedom Foundation.
Recipients of the award include:
- 1981 - Howard L. LasherHoward L. LasherHoward L. Lasher was an American politician of the Democratic party New York State. He was the first Orthodox Jew elected to state office in New York State.-Political fixture:...
, member, New York State AssemblyNew York State AssemblyThe New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652... - 1982 - Rabbi Maurice Davis
- 1983 - Rev. Kent Burtner, O.P.
- 1984 - Ronald EnrothRonald EnrothRonald M. Enroth is Professor of Sociology at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California, and a prominent evangelical Christian author of books concerning what he defines as "cults" and "new religious movements"....
, Ph.D. - 1985 - John Gordon ClarkJohn Gordon ClarkJohn 'Jack' Gordon Clark was a Harvard psychiatrist and authority in research on the alleged damaging effects of cults.He was the target of harassment from Scientologists after he testified against them to the Vermont congress in 1976....
, M.D. - 1986 - Gabe CazaresGabe CazaresGabriel "Gabe" Cazares was a mayor of Clearwater, Florida, a Pinellas County commissioner, a civil rights advocate, and a noted critic of the Church of Scientology. He died September 29, 2006 in Clearwater at the age of 86.-Early history:...
, former mayor, Clearwater, FloridaClearwater, FloridaClearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, US, nearly due west of Tampa and northwest of St. Petersburg. In the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and in the east lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,787. It is the county seat of... - 1987 - Robert Lifton, M.D.
- 1988 - Sandy AndronSandy AndronSandy Andron is an educational consultant. He was the director of a religious education high-school program in Miami, Florida, for twenty-five years. He sits on the Editorial Review Board of the academic journal: Cultic Studies Review. Andron received the Leo J...
, Ed.D. - 1989 - Bill Wasmuth
- 1990 - Louis Jolyon WestLouis Jolyon WestLouis Jolyon West was an American psychiatrist, human rights activist and expert on brainwashing, mind control, torture, substance abuse, post traumatic stress disorder and violence....
, M.D. - 1991 - Robert W. Lobsinger, Publisher, Newkirk Herald Journal
- 1992 - Richard BeharRichard BeharRichard Behar is an award-winning American investigative journalist who has written on the staffs of leading magazines including Forbes, Time and Fortune over a 22-year period from 1982-2004. His work has also appeared on CNN and PBS...
, journalist, author - 1993 - Maynard Bernstein
- 1994 - Patricia Ryan, daughter of Congressman Ryan
- 1995 - Michael LangoneMichael LangoneMichael D. Langone, is an American counseling psychologist who specialises in research about "cultic groups" and alleged psychological manipulation. He is executive director of the International Cultic Studies Association, editor of the journal Cultic Studies Review.Langone is author and co-author...
, Ph.D. - 1996 - Cynthia Kisser, head of the Old Cult Awareness Network
- 1997, 1998 - No award given out.
- 1999 - Bill GoldbergBill Goldberg (social worker)Bill Goldberg is a social worker and researcher of cults. He has a private practice and counsels families of alleged cult members. Goldberg also works for the Rockland County, New York Department of Mental Health - he directs three out-patient programs....
& Lorna GoldbergLorna GoldbergLorna Goldberg is a social worker, certified psychoanalyst, psychotherapist and researcher of cults.Lorna works full time in a private practice as a therapist. Her focus is on children, adolescents and adults who have had exposure to cultic groups... - 2000 - Flo ConwayFlo ConwayFlorence D. Conway is a social activist and former journalist for the Saturday Evening Post.Following the Jonestown deaths of 1978, Dr. Conway testified on February 5, 1979 regarding "The Cult Phenomenon in the United States" along with Jim Siegelman at joint House-U.S. Senate hearings on cult...
& Jim SiegelmanJim SiegelmanJim Siegelman is the author of several books about the rise of what he terms cults in America.Along with Flo Conway, he testified at joint House-U.S. Senate hearings on "cult practices" and also received the Leo J... - 2001 - Bob MintonBob MintonDuring a April 20, 2002, hearing in the Lisa McPherson wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, Minton spoke against Ken Dandar, the attorney representing McPherson's family...
External links
Leo J. Ryan award- The Leo J. Ryan Award, Presentation, 2001, awarded to Bob MintonBob MintonDuring a April 20, 2002, hearing in the Lisa McPherson wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, Minton spoke against Ken Dandar, the attorney representing McPherson's family...
, introduced by Priscilla Coates - "Leo J. Ryan Foundation", has information about his anti-scientology speeches and letters
- 1999 Leo J. Ryan Education Foundation Conference, February 12-14, 1999
- 2000 Leo J. Ryan Foundation Conference, March 17-19, 2000
- 2001 Leo J. Ryan Education Foundation Conference, October 26-28, 2001, theme: "Cults and Terrorism: Abuse of the Vulnerable."
- Leo J. Ryan award winner Richard Behar, 1992 speech
- Newkirk Publisher Wins Cult Awareness Award, The Oklahoman, November 30, 1991
- Voir détails et lauréats du Prix Ryan, French site listing Leo J. Ryan award recipients
Congressman Ryan
- Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee report on Ryan's assassination, 15 May 1979
- Press release from Rep. Tom Lantos, California 12th Congressional District, on the 25th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre and Ryan's assassination
- Site containing the text of the act issuing the Congressional Gold Medal and an FBI report summary as well as an article on both Jones and his involvement and the investigation
- Biography, Biographical Directory of the United States CongressBiographical Directory of the United States CongressThe Biographical Directory of the United States Congress is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress as well as its predecessor, the Continental Congress...
- A photograph of Ryan's grave