Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ryskamp received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Calvin College in 1955.

[1] As of January 2017, Ryskamp took inactive senior status, meaning that while he remained a federal judge, he no longer heard cases or participated in the business of the court.

[3] On April 26, 1990, Ryskamp was nominated to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by President George H. W. Bush to replace Judge Paul Hitch Roney, who had taken senior status.

[4] The Democratic-controlled United States Senate Judiciary Committee chose not to proceed with Ryskamp's nomination, in part because of his membership in a private country club, the Riviera Country Club in Coral Gables, Florida, that was said to be discriminatory.

After the November 1990 elections, Bush renominated Ryskamp to the seat on January 8, 1991, but Ryskamp's nomination continued to be held up in committee by Senate Democrats, and it eventually was defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 8–6, party-line vote on April 12, 1991.