Alumnus Logan Ryan: “The Christian education that I received at Concordia and the relationships I built during my time in Seward help me daily.”

Logan Ryan ’19 came to Concordia Nebraska after being recruited to play on the university’ baseball team by men’s baseball coach Ryan Dupic.  

He has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education with an emphasis in business, marketing and information technology. He said his time at the university was a fantastic combination of education, pursuing his passions and making lasting friendships. 

“Concordia allowed me to continue to pursue my faith and relationship with our Lord and Savior while competing on the baseball field, earning a degree, finding lifetime friends and meeting my wife,” he said.  

He credits the university’s professors with having a profound impact on him and others. 

“The professors at Concordia are so unique. They are able to balance the demands of the job while creating and furthering relationships with students,” he said. “They are incredible examples of servant leaders and always make it a priority to create a Christ-centered environment that allows for open conversations and learning.” 

He said Dr. Kristen Nugent, former Concordia Nebraska director of secondary education and associate professor of education, greatly influenced him during his time in the education program at the university. She served as his advisor.  

Concordia allowed me to continue to pursue my faith and relationship with our Lord and Savior while competing on the baseball field, earning a degree, finding lifetime friends and meeting my wife.

“I am currently a business educator at Lincoln Lutheran in Lincoln, Nebraska,” he said. “Teaching is not easy, and it was an adjustment my first year, but the Christian education that I received at Concordia and the relationships I built during my time in Seward help me daily. Concordia’s education department gave me the resources and tools to develop teaching skills over the course of the last few years that I continue to refine.”  

Ryan grew up in public schools and said Christian education was new to him when he began his studies at the university. 

“While I was a Christian coming into college, the ability to focus on my faith and relating that to my studies and athletics was a turning point in my own faith walk,” he said. “Being surrounded by believers in Him from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed at night gave me a newfound perspective. It made it more obvious to me how great our God is and the blessings He provides every day.” 

Following graduation, Ryan briefly taught at Ames Middle School in Iowa, then began serving at Lincoln Lutheran in Lincoln, Nebraska. He has served as head baseball coach at Lincoln Lutheran since 2023, and served as assistant baseball coach at Concordia Nebraska from fall 2020 to spring 2022. 

He teaches a variety of classes including personal finance, accounting and introduction to business. He is married to Maria (Deeter) Ryan ’19, who played soccer for Concordia Nebraska during her time there. 

Ryan said he loves his job and appreciates the opportunity to combine his faith, his love for baseball and his passion for teaching in his service to the school. 

“It is fulfilling to work with kids and to learn about their areas of strengths and the areas in which they want to improve, in the classroom as well as in sports,” he said. “I did not have the Christian education that our students are receiving, so it is a joy to be in that environment now and work to provide a quality curriculum and develop relationships with my students.”  

Concordia University, Nebraska emphasizes the Christ-centered message of the Gospel in the higher education it delivers. In addition to promoting a supportive culture where students can grow and thrive, Concordia Nebraska offers a Lutheran, Christian higher education built on four foundational promises—community, inquiry, purpose and wisdom—that ensures students will be equipped not only with a set of skills and a degree, but also a sense of Christian vocation and purpose for the future. The university’s athletics programming and Bulldog family are driven by the pursuit of excellence to maximize athletic, academic, spiritual and character development within this Christ-centered community.