Jeannine Ryan is a statistician.
She is not a covert operative. She has no desire to be one. She certainly has no training to be one.
She does, however, have a considerable amount of brain power. And a keen analytical mind. And a stubborn tenacity that will not let her step away from the truth and quite often that can get her put into grave danger.
When we initially meet Ryan in her first recorded adventure, she is an auburn-haired attractive graduate student nearing the end of her goal of a Ph.D., having already acquired a Masters degree in pure mathematics. Getting that final academic hurdle behind her is her goal but the journey is something she is greatly enjoying. This very attractive red-haired number-cruncher loves a challenge but she is looking for them in the data she is studying - not in dodging killers and bullets and people who would rather see her dead than reveal hidden truths.
As her career progresses, her genius in statistical analysis will get noticed and she will be called upon to scour through reams of numbers looking for holes or patterns or some sort of clue to what an underlying problem is. She will even start her own company doing that and her reputation will grow. She continues to get involved in matters taking place in the real world which consistently work to getting her killed, especially when she will uncover a time or two anomalies which will lead to evidence of dealings with terrorists.
That will get her connected to Bill Hamm, an agent with the CIA, which will get her skills noticed by even more people and will present even more opportunities to prove her value. She most definitely does not have a desire for danger but that stubbornness will not let her step away.