Grace, class, and dignity – those are three qualities this dedicated educator strove for each day as he battled through ALS at the end of his life.
Dr. Keith Ballard’s education career started in Coweta, Oklahoma in 1972. Two years later Keith moved to Oologah, Oklahoma where he was a teacher, administrative assistant, assistant high school principal, assistant superintendent, and became superintendent in 1986. He joined Claremore Public Schools as superintendent in 1992 and then became the executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association in 2000, where he served for eight years. He has served as an adjunct professor of school law for Southern Nazarene University and Oral Roberts University.
Ballard retired from Tulsa Public Schools after seven years as superintendent. He spearheaded Project Schoolhouse, which addressed changing student populations and school building utilization.
As of 2021, he was back in the classroom serving as a professor in educational leadership at the University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Ballard’s many honors include induction into the Oklahoma Education Hall of Fame.
Superintendent of Schools – Oologah, Claremore and Tulsa Public Schools; Executive Director, OK State School Boards Association; University Professor – ORU, SNU, and OU; President, OK Association of School Administration; President, United Suburban Schools Association. Thirty-nine years in education.
