• Age: 17
• Residence: Indiana Township
• School: Ryan is a junior at Fox Chapel High School, where he has a 3.8 grade-point average. He would like to study political science and government in college.
• Family: Parents, Steve and Laura Shymansky; brothers, Jon, 15, and Robby, 10; sister, Laurel, 13.
• Noteworthy: Ryan recently won first place in the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh's 2010-11 essay contest, competing against students in grades 10 to 12 from schools in 68 counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The essay topic was "Are additional environmental regulations needed for the extraction of Marcellus shale natural gas in Pennsylvania?" Ryan won a $1,000 Savings Bond and has been invited to attend the society's awards dinner at Duquesne University in May.
• Interests/activities: Ryan has been on the high school rowing team since his freshman year. He is a member of the school's Future Business Leaders of America club.
• Quote: "I was really surprised when I found out that I won first place in the contest," he said. "I put a lot of time into writing the essay, but I didn't think it was good enough to actually win."
