Dayton Engineer

While a student at UD, Dan Ratterman ’15 had a side hustle — helping his family launch the sunglasses company, Shady Rays. During those early days, the company was based out of their living room and some of their earliest fans were students who bought from Ratterman in the student neighborhood.

A few years after graduating with his bachelor of science degree in engineering technology at UD, Ratterman went to work as chief operating officer at the company, which now employs more than 100 people and often ships more than 10,000 orders a day.

Ratterman uses his position to learn, lead and serve the community around him, supported by his family, including his mother, Jane Ratterman, who is also a UD graduate.

In the past 10 years, Shady Rays has donated more than 25 million meals to hungry people, created opportunities for members of the Shady Rays staff to build playsets for children with cancer and funded trips for patients fighting cancer. Shady Rays is also a driving force behind efforts to remove plastic bottles from the ocean.

His leadership at Shady Rays hasn’t gone unnoticed. He’s previously been named by Louisville Business First to its 2023 40 Under 40 list, was named to the Institute of Supply Chain Management 30 Under 30 list in 2020 and has been featured in numerous podcasts and news stories.