Dr. Steven Ballard

Director, Professor

Steve Ballard teaches Leadership in the Honors College and directs the Truist Center for Leadership Development.   In cooperation with the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Faculty Excellence, the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, and several academic units, the Truist Center provides competitive funding for leadership development for undergraduate and graduate students.  In 2005, Chancellor Ballard established the goal for ECU to become The Leadership University. By making leadership training available to virtually all students at ECU, the Truist Center and its partners are creating an educational culture which inspires strong leadership and enables leadership skills to enhance academic credentials, career opportunities, and public service.

Before joining the Honors College, Ballard served as Chancellor of ECU from 2004 until 2017.  ECU was recognized during this time by the Association for Public and Land Grant Universities with the C. Peter McGrath Award for Community Engagement and by the Secretary of Defense with the FREEDOM AWARD for support of military personnel… one of only two universities so recognized by the Defense Department.  From 2004 until 2017, the ECU leadership team established the School of Dental Medicine, the College of Engineering, the Honors College, the East Carolina Heart Institute, and the Family Medicine Center.  ECU grew from 19,000 students to 29,000 students during these years and created the largest and most successful online education program in North Carolina.

From 2005 through 2008, he was a member of the Oxford Conclave for Leadership and Ethics sponsored by the Association of State Colleges and Universities.  Ballard was recognized with the “Essence of Dedicated Leadership Award” by the Old North State Medical Society (2008).  He served on the American Council on Education, Commission on Public Leadership, 2006-2009. In 2016 he received the Leo M. Lambert Engaged Leader Award.  Ballard was recognized as Chancellor Emeritus in 2017and admitted to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Governor McCrory in 2017.

Before coming to East Carolina, Ballard was a senior administrator at University of Missouri – Kansas City and Bowling Green State University. He served on the faculty of three public universities from 1976 through 2001 and directed research and public service centers at Oklahoma and University of Maine.  He was the founding director of the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the University of Maine, which created a partnership between the university and state and local governments.  Ballard has testified before the US Congress and directed research projects for the National Research Council (1988-1989) and the National Science Foundation (1985-86).

Ballard’s most recent and last publication is GREAT LEADERS ARE GREAT PEOPLE, a practical guide to becoming a better leader and public servant.   He lives in Washington NC with his wife, Nancy, and dog, Shea.  He can be reached at scb@ecu.edu.