George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934 in Maquoketa, Iowa) was the Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1999 until 2003. He was a member of the Republican Party. Although Ryan became nationally known when he "raised the national debate on capital punishment" by issuing a moratorium on executions in 2000, his 35-year political career was tarnished by scandal. Investigations into widespread corruption during his administration led to his retirement from politics in 2003 and federal corruption convictions in 2006. Ryan entered federal prison on November 7, 2007, to begin serving a sentence of six years and six months. As of December 10, 2008, he is housed at the satellite prison camp adjacent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana.

George Ryan grew up in Kankakee County, Illinois. After serving in the U.S. Army in Korea, he worked for his father's two drugstores. He attended Ferris State College of Pharmacy (now Ferris State University) in Big Rapids, Michigan. Eventually, he built his father's pair of pharmacies into a successful family-run chain which was sold in 1990.

Ryan married his high school sweetheart, Lura Lynn Ryan, and they have six daughters (including a set of triplets) – Joanne, Julie, Jeanette, Lynda, Patty and Nancy – and one son, "Homer" (George Homer Ryan, Jr.) George Ryan Sr.'s brother Thomas "Tom" Ryan has also been a significant political figure in Kankakee County. In addition, George's Sister Kathleen Dean's former son-in-law Bruce Clark, is Kankakee County Clerk.