Cindy Ryan, ΔΙ, is given the Recognition of Eminence Award. After obtaining her law degree from Widener University School of Law, Ryan became a deputy attorney general for the state of Delaware Department of Justice criminal division. Moving to Washington, DC, in 1985 she was staff counsel for the Senate Government Affairs Committee’s permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Ryan began her career at the Department of Justice in 1987.

Since starting as a Delaware state prosecutor, Cindy moved ahead in her career to federal prosecutor and then chief counsel in the Drug Enforcement Administration, where she supervised 60 attorneys and worked with defense and intelligence agencies to fight controlled substances trafficking in the United States and around the world. Today, Cindy continues her work as general counsel for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) within the Department of Defense. The NGA provides and processes data and satellite images of the Earth to support other government agencies’ operations around the world.