Bryan graduated first in her class from the University of Iowa Law School, where she served as a notes and comments editor of the Iowa Law Review. From 1976 to 1982, she practiced tax law in New York City while earning a master's degree in taxation from New York University. She joined the faculty in 1982. She teaches courses in federal taxation in addition to a seminar in law and literature. Bryan received the McCall Award for Teaching Excellence from the UNC-Chapel Hill graduating class in 1984. After spending a year as a visiting professor at Stanford Law School, she received the Hurlbut Award for Teaching Excellence from the Stanford Law School graduating class of 1988. Bryan has also been a visiting professor at the University of Iowa Law School, and has taught as an adunct at North Carolina Central University. Since 2005, she has served as Director of the J. Nelson Young Tax Institute, a two-day CLE program sponsored by UNC Law School every spring.