John Ball Honored as Grisham Master Teacher
September 16, 2024
MSU President Mark E. Keenum, left, poses with William L. Giles Distinguished Professor honoree Wes Schilling, center, and MSU Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw. (Photo by Jonah Holland)
John Ball, Professor and Robert D. Guyton Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been honored as a Grisham Master Teacher at MSU for 2024. The prestigious teaching honor, first presented in 1993, has been earned by only a select few and recognizes the highest level of teaching excellence. The Grisham Master Teacher award follows previous teaching awards earned by Ball including the Bagley College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Teachers, the BCoE Distance Teaching Award, the Alumni Association Graduate Teaching Award and the Robert D. Guyton Chair in Teaching Excellence.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at MSU in 1991 and his master’s degree in electrical engineering at Georgia Tech in 1993, Ball entered the workforce and gained significant industry experience over ten years at multiple telecommunications companies before returning to MSU to earn his Ph.D., which he completed in 2007. He then spent several years at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division before returning to MSU to begin his academic career in 2013 as an Assistant Professor.
Ball’s dedication to the art of teaching was evident from the start, integrating practical engineering knowledge into his classes while taking advantage of instructional design training at MSU along with engineering education training at the national level. He made significant improvements to existing courses and developed several new courses as well, including Sensor Processing for Autonomous Vehicles, Radar Signal Processing, and Design and Implementation of Wearable Technology. He uses a variable set of teaching methods to meet the different learning styles of his students.
Ball is known for teaching with passion, engaging students through traditional lectures and collaborative exercises, and continuously improving his teaching techniques. The students in Ball’s classes regularly comment on his enthusiasm for teaching, his extensive knowledge of the subject, the clarity of his well-organized presentations, his approachability inside and outside the classroom, and how much he genuinely cares for his students and their success.
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Mississippi State University consists of 27 faculty members (including seven endowed professors), seven professional staff, and over 700 undergraduate and graduate students, with approximately 100 being at the Ph.D. level. With a research expenditure of over $14.24 million, the department houses the largest High Voltage Laboratory among North American universities.