President Ryken

Philip Ryken Headshot with Presidential Seal

Philip G. Ryken, '88

Eighth President of Wheaton College

During Dr. Ryken's presidency, Wheaton has advanced the strategic priorities of deepening ethnic diversity, enhancing music and the performing arts, and globalizing a Wheaton education. Positive results include a new general education curriculum (“Christ at the Core”), a more diverse campus community (with students representing more than 50 countries; nearly one-third are students of color), the state-of-the-art Armerding Center for Music and the Arts, and more than $400 million in new giving for student scholarships and other priorities.

Recent new academic programs include a four-year Engineering degree, Master’s degrees in Humanitarian Disaster Leadership, and a Doctor of Ministry degree.

Current campus projects include developing an expanded library and learning commons, renovating and expanding athletics facilities, and raising $70 million in need-based and academic scholarships.

A Wheaton native and the son of longtime professor Dr. Leland Ryken and Mary Graham Ryken, President Ryken attended Wheaton as an undergraduate, majoring in English literature and philosophy. He met his wife Lisa during their first few days at the College, and they were married before their senior year. The Rykens have five children—Josh (’15), Kirsten (’18), Jack ('23), Kathryn ('24), Karoline (‘28)—and two granddaughters.

Dr. Ryken earned a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary and a doctorate in historical theology from the University of Oxford. He preached at Philadelphia’s historic Tenth Presbyterian Church from 1995 until his appointment at Wheaton in 2010.

President Ryken has published more than 50 books, including The Message of Salvation (InterVarsity, 2001), Art for God’s Sake (P&R, 2006), Beauty is Your Destiny (Crossway, 2023), I Have My Doubts (Crossway, 2024), and expository commentaries on Exodus, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Jeremiah, Luke, Galatians, and other books of the Bible. He has served as a board member with Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the Gospel Coalition, the Lausanne Movement, and the National Association of Evangelicals.