Ballard spent his childhood in Galesburg, Illinois, then attended the University of Arizona, where he graduated with distinction in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in history.

As shortstop and captain of the Arizona Wildcats baseball team, he earned three varsity letters and played in the College World Series during his senior year.

In 1989, he moved to the University of Maine as founding director of the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy, a post he held until 1998.

He was recruited to Ohio in 1998 as vice-provost for research and dean of the Graduate School at Bowling Green State University.

He has authored five books and more than one hundred professional articles and manuscripts on such topics as environmental regulation, the evaluation of systems for child mental health, and public reactions to strategic defense initiatives and arms control policies.