Arlington, VA. October 4, 2002 - Thomas J. Ryan, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Quaker Foods and Beverages, was elected Chairman of the Board of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) at the 2002 International Assembly of Better Business Bureaus, recently held in Minnesota.
Mr. Ryan succeeds Calvin J. Collier, senior vice president and general counsel/corporate affairs, Kraft Foods, Inc., who chaired the CBBB for four years. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the first Better Business Bureau (BBB), which was established in Minneapolis. Today, 142 BBBs across the U.S. and Canada provide more than 25 million instances of service to consumers and businesses each year. The CBBB was formed in 1971 to serve as the umbrella organization and national governing body for the local BBBs.
Mr. Ryan assumed his current role with Quaker Foods in August 2001. Previously he was senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for Tropicana Products.
He began his legal career as counsel with the General Foods Corporation in 1974. In 1983, he was named vice president, general counsel and secretary at Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation. Before joining Tropicana in 1997, Ryan was vice president and general counsel for The Pillsbury Company.
A graduate of St. Lawrence University and an honors graduate of Suffolk University School of Law, Mr. Ryan is a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the States of Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin. He also holds a Master's Degree from New York University Law School and attended the Management Program at Harvard University School of Business Administration.
Mr. Ryan is a member of the American Bar Association Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, and a director of the American Frozen Foods Institute.
