This research was used as standard by the United States Food and Drug Administration for calculating thermal processes in canning.
He was also a charter member of the Institute of Food Technologists in 1939 and inducted among the first class of its fellows in 1970 for his work in academia and industry.
A native of Abilene, Kansas, Ball earned his BS in mathematics before going to graduate school at George Washington University from 1919 to 1922.
While at George Washington University, he worked for the National Canners Association by researching the sterilization of canned foods.
He worked at Owens-Illinois Glass Company from 1944 to 1946 before going to Rutgers University as a professor and later chair of the food science department during 1949–1963.