Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA

MUHAMMAD ALI

Portrait of Muhammad Ali taken at him home in Michigan. (photo by Anne Ryan, copyright USA Today)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Sunday February 11, 2007, Ames, Iowa, USA

Obama takes on Iowa as presidential run gains momentum

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks to potential supporters during a rally at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. Earlier in the day, Obama announced his candidacy for president on the steps of the old Illinois State Capitol Building where Abraham Lincoln once practiced law. In a 20-minute speech delivered before thousands of supporters, Obama touched on the perception of some that his lack of experience in national politics could hinder his chances of winning the White House. "I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change."

Michelle Obama holds her daughter Sasha, 5, during her father's speech at a rally.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

DARIO, NICARAGUA

NICARAGUAN BURN VICTIM

INTRODUCTION - Three-year-old burn victim Junior Gutierrez of Dario Nicaragua gets ready to say goodbye to his mother Margine as he prepares to embark on a journey to Madison, Wisconsin. A humanitarian organization, Healing the Children, made arrangements for Junior to fly to the United States and live with a foster family for six months to have plastic surgery. (photo by Anne Ryan, copyright USA Today)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

DARIO, NICARAGUA

NICARAGUAN BURN VICTIM

Junior was badly burned on his face and his left arm when the mosquito netting around his bed caught fire in the middle of the night. (photo by Anne Ryan, copyright USA Today)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Tuesday August 7, 2007, Chicago, Illinois, USA

AFL-CIO Democratic Presidential Candidates Forum

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) walks through the tunnel after an AFL-CIO Working Families Presidential Candidates Forum at Soldier Field in Chicago Tuesday evening.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Friday March 10, 2006, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Immigrants March in ChicagoTo Protest H.R. 4437 Legislation

Immigrants and protesters march to Federal Plaza in Chicago to protest H.R. 4437, the Hastert/Sensenbrenner bill or Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. The size of the crowd was estimated at 100,000 people or many different immigrant groups.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Thursday April 5, 2007, Dakota City, Iowa, USA

Senator Obama Campaigns in Iowa

Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill) speaks to a crowd of supporters at VFW Post 5240 in Dakota City, Iowa at a "Meet The Candidate" event. After his speech Obama met supporters and autographed books and photographs.

A distraught woman talks to Barack Obama.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Saturday February 10, 2007, Springfield, Illinois, USA

Senator Barack Obama declares candidacy for US President

Senator Barack Obama announces his intentions to run for President of the United States to a jubilant crowd of between 15,000-17,000 people in attendance in front of the old State Capital building on a cold morning in Springfield, Illinois.

Obama Supporters Kathleen LaPore Miller (R) and Rachel Cleveland, both of Baltimore, listen to Barack Obama speak as he announces his candidacy for President.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Wednesday December 15, 2004, Chicago, Illinois, USA

New Advances in Artificial Arm Technology at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

Sullivan, of Dayton, Tennessee, was the first patient to undergo the surgery to enhance use of an artificial arm. Sullivan lost both arms on the job as a lineman for a Tennessee power company who accidentally touched a high tension wire carrying 7400 volts. The accident cost Sullivan both of his arms up to the shoulders. The nerves that once controlled Sullivan's left arm were surgically implanted into his chest muscles since he had no arm muscles at all. He was outfitted with a Boston Digital Arm and the contacts in the socket of the prosthesis were positioned where the prosthetist finds the strongest EMG signal. Sullivan currently has control over three different mechanical arm functions and is being tested for other sites for contacts as the nerves continue to innervate the muscles. The arm feels so natural to him that he once yanked off his mechanical hand trying to start the lawnmower. On his right side Sullivan uses an older body-powered mechanical arm with a split hook hand.

Dr. Todd Kuiken M.D. Ph.D, right, attaches surface electrodes to artificial arm recipient Jesse Sullivan to detect EMGs, or electrical activity of the muscles, at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

HANOI, VIETNAM

HANOI VIETNAM ORPHANAGE

American Mike Maskew plays with a little girl who cannot flex her ankles at Cau Gai orphanage in Hanoi, Vietnam. Maskew adopted a son from the orphanage four years earlier. The girl was about to be adopted by an American couple who were both physicians. They had already lined up a surgeon to operate on her legs. (photo by Anne Ryan, copyright USA Today)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Monday April 30, 2007, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

St. Louis Cardinals cope with death of pitcher Josh Hancock

Fans and teammates of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock honored the 29-year-old baseball player with a moment of silence before a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Hancock died days earlier, when his sport utility vehicle slammed into the back of a tow truck.

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa speaks with members of the media ahead of the game.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Monday July 19, 2004, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Bill Rancic of "The Apprentice" Participates in Nike Speed Showdown

Bill Rancic from the Emmy-nominated show "The Apprentice" races at the Nike Speed Showdown for charity Monday July 19, 2004 at the Niketown store in Chicago. The event raised more than $10,000 for charities including the Union League Boys & Girls Club and the Mercy Home for Boys.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Saturday February 10, 2007, Springfield, Illinois, USA

Senator Barack Obama declares candidacy for US President

Senator Barack Obama announces his intentions to run for President of the United States to a jubilant crowd of between 15,000-17,000 people in attendance in front of the old State Capital building on a cold morning in Springfield, Illinois.

Barack and Michelle Obama wave to supporters after his speech.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

HANOI, VIETNAM

HANOI VIETNAM ORPHANAGE

A nurse tends to several babies at once as she lays them out for a stretch at Cau Gai orphanage in Hanoi, Vietnam. (photo by Anne Ryan, copyright USA Today)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Sunday February 18, 1996, CORAL GABLES, Florida, USA

OLYMPIAN DIVER DAVID PICHLER

David Pichler does a dive off the 3-meter springboard during practice at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida (photo by Anne Ryan, copyright USA Today)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Thursday March 13, 2003, Syracuse, IN, USA

INDIANA BASKETBALL

Shanna Zolman, 18, of Syracuse, Indiana, a USA Today All-USA basketball player photographed outside a barn belonging to a classmate's family March 13, 2003. Photo (by Anne Ryan, Polaris Images)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Tuesday November 7, 2006, Lombard, Illinois, USA

Illinois democratic U.S. Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth coverage on election day

Illinois democratic U.S. Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth waits on the platform to greet voters at a train station in Lombard, Illinois Tuesday morning.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Wednesday August 8, 2007, Chicago, Illinois, USA

AFL-CIO Democratic Presidential Candidates Forum

Senator Barack Obama (D) of Illinois, talks to the crowd during a commercial break at an AFL-CIO Working Families Presidential Candidates Forum at Soldier Field in Chicago Tuesday evening.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

OLYMPIC SPEEDSKATER CHRIS WITTY

Portrait of Olympic gold medalist speedskater Chris Witty (photo by Anne Ryan, copyright USA Today)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Sunday April 3, 2005, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Polish Catholics gather in Chicago to mourn the loss of Pope John Paul II

Nine-year-old Max Sredniawa lights candles at the end of mass at St. Hyacinth Basilica, a Polish Catholic church in Chicago, Sunday, one day after the death of Pope John Paul II. Chicago has the second-largest Polish population in the world outside of Warsaw, Poland.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

HANOI, VIETNAM

HANOI VIETNAM ORPHANAGE

A toddler boy looks out the window at Cau Gai orphanage in Hanoi, Vietnam. (photo by Anne Ryan, copyright USA Today)

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Wednesday February 11, 2004, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Sharks at the Wild Reef Exhibit at the John G. Shedd Aquarium

Visitors are virtually surrounded by sharks and other aquatic life at the Wild Reef exhibit at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Thursday September 16, 2004, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Combat Boot Memorial Represents Soldiers Killed in Iraq

Celeste Zappala of Philadelphia stands over a combat boot tagged with the name of her son Sherwood Baker holding his photograph in the middle of an exhibit of over 1000 pairs of combat boots bearing name tags of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. The boots fill Federal Plaza in Chicago as part of an exhibit called "Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of War in Iraq". The exhibit was put on by the American Friends Service Committee. Baker, a national guardsman, was 30 when he was killed in an explosion on April 26th of this year. He was married and had a nine-year-old son. Zappala says, "This war was a mistake, a disaster. It was a betrayal." She continues, "I don't think the administration has any idea what they've let loose or how to solve it."

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Thursday February 3, 2005, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Chicago's W Hotel Appeals to Generation X

Video screens show undersea life on the walls next to the elevator bank at the W Hotel in Chicago.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Monday August 22, 2005, Byron, Illinois, USA

Nuclear power plant in Illinois

Byron Nuclear Power Station is owned and operated by Exelon; Commonwealth Edison and PECO are subsidiaries of Exelon Corp. The Byron plant contains two light water reactors, located in Ogle County.

Exelon's nuclear power plant in rural Byron, Illinois.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Tuesday November 16, 2004, Venice, Italy

Eternal Venice

The Procuratie Nuove, left, and Procuratie Vecchie, right, in Piazza San Marco or St. Mark's Square in Venice.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Wednesday October 18, 2006, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Chicago Board of Trade sold for eight billion dollars

The Chicago Board of Trade is located at the end of LaSalle Street in the Chicago Loop. Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings, Inc. announced that it would purchase the Chicago Board of Trade for $8 billion.

An American flag flies outside the Chicago Board of Trade.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Friday February 2, 1996, Chicago, Illinois, USA

357 Magnum handgun

Smith & Wesson 357 Magnum smoking gun illustration for cover of USA Today gun package.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Wednesday January 28, 2004, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Freezing temperatures in Chicago

Single digit temperatures in Chicago cause large chunks of ice to form along the shore of Lake Michigan. Temperatures are not expected to climb out of the teens for the next few days.

Credit: Anne Ryan / Polaris

Anne Ryan

Anne Ryan was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She has spent half of her 20-year career as a staff photographer for USA Today. As one of only six USA Today staff photographers she covered major events all over the country and around the world. She has covered four Olympics, nine Superbowls, major hurricanes and other spot news, political conventions, several World Series and all six Chicago Bulls NBA Championships. In September 2000 she decided to go out on her own as a freelance photographer. Anne continues her close relationship with USA Today as a contract photographer, but she is not restricted from working for other publications.

Anne began her photojournalism career as a junior at the University of Illinois. During college she was a photo intern at the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Florida and the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois. Upon graduation she was hired as a staff photographer at the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She worked there as a general assignment photographer for five years. In May 1990 she returned home to Chicago when she accepted a staff position at USA Today. She has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize by both the Sun-Sentinel and USA Today.

Anne also speaks Italian and Spanish and has done assignments in both languages. She and her husband John Zich, also a photojournalist, have three sons.

Personal web site of Anne Ryan