All of us at Somersault (@smrsault) congratulate Bruce Ryskamp for receiving the ECPA Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award. We all worked for Bruce during our tenures at Zondervan and count him to be a visionary leader and personal friend. We’re thrilled at this recognition of his outstanding abilities that he consistently displayed throughout his illustrious career.
All the details are in the following news release:
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (@ecpa) presented the 2013 Kip Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award to publishing industry veteran, Bruce Ryskamp, at an awards banquet held Apr. 29, 2013, during the ECPA Leadership Summit at World Outreach Church outside Nashville, Tenn.
Ryskamp was honored for his tremendous impact on the publishing industry in his role as president and CEO of Zondervan and as one the longest serving members of ECPA’s board of directors.
Serving Zondervan first as vice president of its new Bible division in 1983, then leader of its book division in 1987, Ryskamp was named president and CEO in 1993. Under Ryskamp’s visionary leadership, Zondervan saw remarkable publishing success with bestsellers by Rick Warren, Phillip Yancey, Oliver North, Dave Dravecky, Lee Strobel, and John Ortberg. He also led Zondervan to see the long-term viability of digital publishing; to maintain a commitment to publishing resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and academics; and to serve children’s needs by establishing the Zonderkidz group, which targets kids 15 and under.
A leader committed to excellence, bound by Zondervan’s mission and vision, possessed of good marketing instincts and common sense business principles, Ryskamp was adept at spotting new and unknown talent that had long-term potential. Ryskamp’s character was on full display when interacting one-on-one with the mentally and physically challenged persons who worked at Zondervan daily through a partnership with the local Hope Network.
In his retirement, Ryskcamp and his wife, Jeri, have devoted their time and resources to the non-profit Bruce and Jeralyn Ryskamp Orphan Assistance Foundation, providing funding for families who wish to adopt international orphans with special needs.
ECPA is proud to honor such a man for his lifetime of genuine achievement.
The prestigious Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award is presented by ECPA to an individual for his exceptional contribution to the Christian publishing industry. The award is named in honor of Charles "Kip” Jordon (1945-1997), beloved Christian publishing veteran of more than 25 years, and former publisher of Word Publishing.