Dr. Billy R. Ballard
⋯ GRAPTER ⋯
Dr. Ballard, who grew up in segregated Louisiana, is Professor and Chair of Pathology and Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Meharry Medical College. In addition, he has held tenured faculty and administrative positions at several academic medical centers, not infrequently as the first African American to do so. With a career spanning nearly 50 years, Dr. Ballard is a well-respected pathologist with more than 120 publications, and he has been a pioneering force who has opened many doors for African American students, residents, and faculty.
He earned a B.S. degree from Southern University in Louisiana before studying at Meharry Medical College, where he completed both the Doctor of Dental Surgery and the Doctor of Medicine degrees.
Dr. Ballard began his academic career with dual appointments as an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Oral Pathology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has been a tenured professor since 1971. With tenure, Dr. Ballard’s faculty appointments continued at Meharry Medical College, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Since 1982, continuous funding has been awarded from HRSA for Dr. Ballard’s grant proposals at research institutions. These programs include the Health Careers Opportunity Program, Post Baccalaureate Program, Hispanic Center of Excellence, and Historical Black Colleges and Universities Center of Excellence. In 2005, the HRSA Bureau of Health Professions honored Dr. Ballard with the Associate Administrator Achievement Award for his outstanding leadership and achievement in improving the diversity of the nation’s health workforce.
An active Episcopalian for almost 60 years (baptized at St. Anselm’s Nashville), he has organized, led, and participated in several medical mission initiatives in the dioceses of Tennessee (notably in East Nashville), Mississippi, and Texas. He sees the church as the best way to channel his desire to help his fellow human beings. Currently a communicant of Christ Church Cathedral, Billy formerly held several leadership roles at the Church of the Advent, including that of Senior Warden.
Billy’s children, Rachel and Percy, both physicians, were educated at St. Andrew’s School in Jackson, Mississippi, and Billy credits that environment with their subsequent academic successes. His children and wife, Rose, were baptized at St. Ann’s, Nashville. In addition, he has two in-town grandchildren.