Ryan (Zhenye) Pan is a project assistant at the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center. In this role, he contributes to projects and research at the intersection of geopolitics and emerging technologies, including space and artificial intelligence. His work focuses on policy, ethics, and international cooperation.

Pan was previously a young global professional with the GeoTech Center. Prior to the Atlantic Council, Pan interned at the United Nations (UN) Internet Governance Forum Secretariat and the Digital Government Branch of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, working on internet governance, multistakeholder collaboration, and e-governance. As a UN advocacy consultant at Access Now, he led a project that tracked trends in online human rights issues with the government of Switzerland. He completed a fellowship with a nonprofit focused on using blockchain technology to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Pan was also an editor at the Journal of International Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Pan received his MA in international affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, specializing in technology, media, and communications, where he led and presented a report on technology transfer to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency at the US Department of Defense. He received his BA in global studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. Pan is a native speaker of Mandarin and Cantonese and is proficient in French and German.