Dr. Robert Ballard

Dr. Robert Ballard

“It’s a quiet and peaceful place - and a fitting place for the remains of this greatest of sea tragedies to rest”, says Dr. Robert Ballard. Who is Dr. Robert Ballard? He’s one of the world’s foremost oceanographers! Read on and I will teach you the life of this underwater pioneer and my hero. I will show you about his early life, his outstanding career, and what Ballard is doing now. Now, let's go “under the sea” to explore this hero’s amazing life!

Robert Duane Ballard was born on June 30th 1942 in Wichita, Kansas. His family moved to San Diego, California. He grew up there. As a child, he was interested in tidal pools and marine life. He loved to read Jules Verne’s "20,000 Leagues under the Sea". The character in the book, Captain Nemo, was Ballard’s hero. After reading this book, he loved the sea and Captain Nemo inspired him to follow his dreams. When Robert was a teen, he got a job from his father, Chet Ballard, at the Oceans Systems Group. Chet was a big influence on Ballard. Also Robert got interested in SCUBA diving. In 1965, he joined the U.S. Navy. He was eventually appointed Naval Commander. After the Navy, he joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, which would change his life forever. After Robert Ballard’s inspiring childhood, his extraordinary start with the sea as a teen, his time serving in the United States Navy, and joining Woods Hole, his life had only just begun.

Woods Hole was a big start for Robert Ballard’s fascinating career. After those series of events in his early life, the ocean will be his whole life. While at Woods Hole, Ballard was an ace student. Today he is still a senior student there. In the late 1960`s and early 1970`s, he began building ALVIN, a submarine that will be used for explorations. The submarine could stay underwater for 4-12 hours at a time. Ballard’s ALVIN was one of first of the early submarines ever used. The submarine was famous for its 1973-1979 expedition in the Mid Atlantic. On this amazing trip he founded amazing finds underwater like hot springs and red worms to name a few. After the ALVIN expedition, Ballard won a lot of awards. On the morning of September 1st, 1985, Ballard and his team made an amazing and Robert’s most famous find. He and his team found the R.M.S Titanic, the famous ocean liner that crashed into an iceberg and sank on April 14, 1912. People thought the sunken ship was lost forever and never would be found. Ballard created two submarines, JASON and JASON JR. With those submarines, he was able to see an overview and take pictures of the sunken ghost ship. After the historical Titanic finding, he did win awards plus explored more sunken ships, including some from World War II. Some of Ballard’s finds were the USS Yorktown and PT 109. He has received many awards, including one from former U.S. President George W. Bush. From becoming an ace student at Wood’s Hole, the historical find of the R.M.S Titanic, and discovering and studying many more great ships and receiving awards, what can’t Dr. Robert Ballard do? So you might be wondering, what is this marine geologist doing now?

Today, Dr. Robert Ballard is still doing research and discoveries with the oceans today. Ballard is also doing a lot of exploration. During 1999-2000, Ballard and his crew researched the Black Sea. But, he’s not done yet! In 2004, Robert Ballard went back to the Titanic to do more research of the historic crash. Dr Ballard also does education too! He has created the JASON program. The program exposes kids to ocean research through this interactive webpage. Dr. Ballard formed it in 1989. He received thousands of letters from school children talking about the Titanic find and wanting to learn more about the ocean. This program affected over 10 million students around the world! Now, Dr. Ballard lives in Connecticut. He is married to Marjorie Jacobsen, a medical receptionist. They have been married since 1966. Now Ballard is 68 years old and still active. He is a member of the Boston Sea Rovers, a senior scientist at Wood’s Hole, and director of the Institute of Archaeology Oceanography. He’s also the founder and president of the Institute for exploration at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. He is also a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. During Ballard’s free time, he likes to fish and likes to horseback ride. So yes, Dr. Robert Ballard is an older man, but he is a great man and a great hero.

So if you think about it, Dr. Robert Ballard is really an “Indiana Jones” of the sea. He deserves to be a hero. Through his series of events in his childhood, his most adventurous career, and his present day activities, he is an amazing man with an amazing life. So as you can see, Dr. Robert Ballard is an awesome science hero. Bon Voyage and let's raise the anchor to set out on new adventures with this early submarine explorer!