The greatest inventors are warriors. They willingly pursue a course of action into the unknown to discover grand solutions that resonate with some deep truth within them. They pursue this calling with invincible resolution against the odds of convention and the forces in support of the status quo, and emerge not just victorious, but as impassioned contributors to the advancement of humankind. Dr. Richard L. Ballard is such a person.
Ballard’s character was shaped early on by the inspiring guidance of his father and mother. His father was Division Chief Engineer of North American - Rockwell Autonetics Division in Anaheim, California where the Minuteman I project was developed. His mother, an equal in character and devotion to the care and up-bringing of the family - an educator and nurturer. It was never a question of whether young Ballard would challenge himself to excel, it was an assumption expressed throughout his childhood, teens and beyond in numerous ways. He was imbued with life and work values, such as the importance of integrity, and the belief that whatever he creates should have practical purpose. An imperative that has its signature on everything he has developed or created over the years.
Confronted with the space race that began in 1959, John Kennedy challenged the youth of America to champion the American cause and to find within themselves the conviction to question everything, to excel within their field, and to find a way – the path less traveled - to impact the world. The call went out to the leaders of tomorrow, and a national campaign was set in motion to identify those students who were most likely to champion the cause.
Commissioned with this presidential decree and identified as one of those rare champions, Richard Ballard entered UC Berkeley as the top ranked student. While at Berkeley, Ballard gained immediate recognition for his willingness to question campus rules, the curriculum, Regent policies and procedures and the professorial mindset. These traits opened the door for Ballard to create an entirely new series of physics laboratory experiments for Berkeley and to influence how Physics was taught at the University for years to come.
During summer science internships with NASA, Ballard worked with a team of scientists under Werner Von Braun (head of the US Space program at the time) and at North American - Rockwell Autonetics Division. Ballards first job title was “technical computer” (computers were people in the late 50s) working on a Bendix G-15 key calculator. After only a few sessions with the machine, he started programming the machine in machine language – and in effect, became “the last computer”. In fact, Ballard was given the Jedi name: RB1TLC as a result. Later, he programmed the Verdan computer that took the Nautilus submarine under the North Pole, and, solved a complex tridiagonal matrix problem with a mathematical formula that was 180 years old to solve a missile directional malfunctioning problem.
Along with these accomplishments, Ballard gained greater recognition, confidence and intimate insight into the intricacies of projects of national importance related to computing, national goals such as NASA’s space projects and the impact of innovation on societies institutions.
Ballard graduated from UC Berkeley with Distinction in Physics, then, went on to UC Irvine as an Assistant Professor and Research Physicist in Physics and Computer Science where the seeds of Knowledge Science were first planted. Ballard developed New Worlds simulations, a natural language graphic dialog system, and a computer-based physics curriculum. He was later cited for the development of the first application of artificial intelligence to conceptual learning. Ballard went on to develop and license the first micro-based courseware authoring system and many other inventions – all with practical value.
Then, more the warrior than ever, these successes directed Ballard from academia to commercial enterprise where his Knowledge Science continued to formulate. Ballard founded the first micro-based publishing company (W.C. Brown Publishers), where he created a production/editing system around licensed development tools and an application software series. These successes lead to a position of co-director of Apple Education Foundation along with co-founders Steve Jobs, Mike Markula and Carolyn Stouffer, where Ballard stepped onto the world stage. While with Apple, employee #110, he provided start-up grants and consulting to micro-based start-ups and represented the computer technology industry at Congressional Hearings held in Washington D.C.
In his late 30’s, Ballard became the consummate businessman. While with TALMIS Division of International Data Corporation as VP of Research, he defined first & subsequent products, organized and trained editorial staffs, edited first marketable products, and supported CEOs, marketing and development VPs of 44 companies such as Apple, Control Data Corporation, Walt Disney Productions, Esquire Publishing Company, Fujitsu Corporation, IBM, McGraw-Hill, Prentice-Hall Publishers, Science Research Associates, Xerox Publishing Group and others.
Ballard continued development work in the publishing industry with his wife Jan Pettitt and her company Interactive Productions, and as Senior Staff Scientist, Artificial Intelligence with Nichols Research Corporation. It was at Nichols were Ballard officially embarked on his journey into the heart and soul of Knowledge Science through the development of his first knowledge tool–Mark 1.
Within a couple of years, Ballard released Mark 2, a substantially more robust and capable version of the Mark 1 knowledge tool set. Mark 2 gained immediate praise for its power and capacity, and was later determined to be 100’s and 1000’s of times more powerful than conventional databases. Through his teaming work with Nichols, Pacific-Sierra Research, SEMA Corporation and his own companies Knowledge Research (founded 1993) and Knowledge Foundations (founded 1994) more than 50 Knowledge Engineering projects were conduced, most of national importance. During this time, Ballard defined his Quantitative Theory of Knowledge and first scientific-based explanation of knowledge presented as the formula (Knowledge = Theory + Information). All subsequent developments have been based on this breakthrough science of knowledge.
Now, in the early years of the 21st Century, Mark 2 is giving way to Mark 3, the most advanced declarative, n-dimensional, theory-based semantic tool set ever. Unlike any conventional technologies, Mark 3 Tools can capture and reason with any form of human knowledge while functioning in accordance with natural law. With these accomplishments firmly defined and tested, Dr. Ballard is now leading Knowledge Foundations and those who chose to follow, into an era of unprecedented possibilities, innovation and world progress.
Over the years, Dr. Ballard has received 128 software citations, developed 21 Educational Software Workshops and 3 Management Software Workshops, and has been published in 35 publications and technical reports.
Looking back these many years, after more than three decades of focus, concentration, dedication and purpose, it is clear that the deep resonance of truth that beckoned from within the young scientist Ballard, has now risen to become the most fundamental, revolutionary science of the 21st Century. Ballard has emerged victorious as the Scientist Warrior, and like all great inventors, his impassioned gift, in deed, is a contribution of extraordinary value to humankind.