Dan Ryan Jr.. - Wikipedia Dan Ryan Jr.. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2009 ) Daniel B. `` Dan '' Ryan Jr. ( 1894 -- April 8, 1961 ) was a Chicago insurance broker and served as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners from 1954 to his death. Ryan was a Democrat. ( 1 ) The Dan Ryan Expressway was named in his memory. Life Ryan attended De La Salle Institute and Kent College of Law. When his father, Dan Ryan Sr., died in 1923, Ryan was elected to fill out his term on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. With the exception of 1926 -- 1930, he sat on the board until his death and served as the board president for the final years of his life. Highways Ryan was a promoter of superhighways for the Chicago area, but financing was difficult before creation of the Interstate Highway System, and in 1955 Ryan engineered an ambitious bond issue program to jump - start construction of expressways in Cook County. Dan Ryan Senior hailed from Dundrum in Co. Tipperary, where his family were known as the Ryan Larrys ( In Tipperary there were so many Ryans that they had to assume second names to differentiate the different families ) References Jump up ^ `` Daniel Ryan ( obituary ) ''. Cook County Highways : 3. April 1961. Preceded by William N. Erickson Cook County Board President 1954 -- 1961 Succeeded by John J. Duffy Presidents of the Cook County Board Chas C.P. Holden D.W. Clark Joseph Donnersberger George C. Klehm J. Frank Aldrich Henry C. Senne George Edmanson Robert J. Smith John M. Green George Edmanson George Struckman Daniel D. Healy James C. Irwin John J. Hanberg Henry G. Foreman Edward J. Brundage William Busse Peter Bartzen Alexander A. McCormick Peter Reinberg Dan Ryan, Sr. Anton Cermak Emmett Whealan Clayton F. Smith William N. Erickson Dan Ryan, Jr. John J. Duffy Seymour Simon Richard B. Ogilvie George Dunne Richard Phelan John Stroger Bobbie L. Steele Todd Stroger Toni Preckwinkle This article about an Illinois politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This Chicago - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dan_Ryan_Jr.&oldid=820789228 '' Categories : 1894 births 1961 deaths De La Salle Institute alumni American people of Irish descent Presidents of the Cook County Board of Commissioners 20th - century American politicians Illinois politician stubs Chicago stubs Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from December 2009 All articles needing additional references All stub articles Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 16 January 2018, at 16 : 44 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who is the dan ryan expressway named after
Answer: Daniel B. "Dan" Ryan Jr.