[1][2][3][4] Ballon earned her BA from Princeton University in 1977[5] and a PhD from MIT in 1985 in the field of architecture, art, and environmental studies.
[6][1] She was a member of the faculty at Columbia University from 1985 to 2006, where she was also a Fellow of the Heyman Center for the Humanities.
From 2007 until her death she held the title of university professor at New York University and taught in the graduate planning program at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
[7] She also served as Deputy Vice Chancellor of NYU Abu Dhabi, and was "part of the leadership team" that developed and opened the campus.
[8] She curated exhibits at the Museum of the City of New York, including on Robert Moses from 2006 to 2007,[9] as well as the bicentennial of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 from 2011 to 2012.