Newmark Scholar Ryan Johnson transitions from the Army to data-driven public service

Each year, the Craig Newmark Veterans Scholarship Fund offers tuition assistance to as many as nine graduate students. The recipients, who are exclusively active-duty service members, veterans or military-connected students, can utilize this support to pursue their policy education at the McCourt School. Among the 2024–2025 Newmark Scholars is Ryan Johnson (MPP/MBA’27), an army officer and first-year student in the Master of Public Policy program.

Johnson applied to McCourt looking for the same community-oriented environment he found in the military as he transitioned from his operational focus in the Army to a data-driven study of public policy.

“I really wanted to get back to the quantitative roots and build those skills as a way to analyze and think about policy,” said Johnson, citing the McCourt School’s Massive Data Institute as a particular draw. 

In the Army, Johnson has served as an advising team leader in Ghana and Benin, where he worked at the cutting edge of U.S. security policy in West Africa and led the first conventional advising team to Benin. Johnson’s time in the military allowed him to see the effect of large-scale policy decisions on an individual level, and he hopes to better understand how those macro policy decisions are made. 

Johnson has a B.S. in economics from Northeastern University and recently interned with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, where he worked with the Office of Technology Evaluation, examining data that reflects the trade flow around the world. While he’s exploring different policy areas in his coursework at the McCourt School, Johnson plans to pursue a career in public service after graduation.