List of Famous people with last name Ballard

Robert Duane Ballard is a retired American Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology of shipwrecks. He is most known for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989, and the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998. He discovered the wreck of John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2002 and visited Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, who saved its crew. He leads ocean exploration on E/V Nautilus.

Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. is an American businessman and religious leader who is currently the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since 1985. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Ballard is accepted by church members as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Currently, he is the third most senior apostle in the church.

Chris Ballard is an American football executive, currently serving as the general manager for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). Before joining the Colts, Ballard was an executive for the Kansas City Chiefs, where he most recently served as the Director of Football Operations, was a scout for the Chicago Bears, and served in various coaching roles at Texas A&M University–Kingsville.

Gregory Alan Ballard is an American politician, author, and businessman who served as the 48th mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Marine Corps.

Basil Glen Ballard Jr. is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, which won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album and Album of the Year, and was ranked by the Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. He is also well known for his collaborations with composer Alan Silvestri. He was involved in the recording and writing of Michael Jackson's albums Thriller, Bad and Dangerous. As a writer, he co-wrote songs including "Man in the Mirror" (1987) and "Hand in My Pocket" (1995). He is the founder of Java Records. He won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Believe".

Carroll Ballard is an American film director. He has directed six feature films, including The Black Stallion (1979), Never Cry Wolf (1983), and Fly Away Home (1996).

Rochelle Ballard is an American professional surfer and a veteran of the Association of Surfing Professional's (ASP) World Championship Tour. Due to her natural and skilled barrel riding technique, she is considered the best female barrel rider in the world. Through her passion, courage and skill, Rochelle has been a pioneer for the advancement of Women's surfing over the past two decades. Ballard's mastery of big waves and support of women's surfing, rank her among surfing history's most elite. She also co-founded International Women's Surfing (IWS) and has appeared in several movies and television shows, most notably Blue Crush, Step Into Liquid, and Beyond the Break. In 2012, she became the ISA World Masters World Champion. During her years on tour, Ballard won 7 world championship events and in 2004, she was runner-up to the World Championship title. In 1997, at the Billabong Pro at Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, Australia, Rochelle scored two perfect 10 barrel rides against Layne Beachley in the semifinals and went on to win the event, after beating Lisa Anderson in the finals. To this day, Ballard still holds the women's world record for scoring two perfect 10s in a single heat.

Jeff Ballard is an American jazz drummer. He has played with Ray Charles and Pat Metheny and plays periodically with Chick Corea in many groups such as Origin and the Chick Corea New Trio. He also played with many New York-based jazz musicians such as Reid Anderson, Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Miguel Zenon and Eli Degibri. He has also played with the Joshua Redman Elastic Band.

Alimi Ballard is an American television actor. He is best known for his role as FBI agent David Sinclair on the CBS police procedural Numb3rs. Ballard recently starred in the ABC legal thriller The Catch.