SEC honors MSU’s Ball with Faculty Achievement Award
Contact: Carl Smith
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Professor John Ball, the Robert D. Guyton Chair of Teaching Excellence in Mississippi State’s Bagley College of Engineering, is the university’s 2026 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award winner.
A recipient of MSU’s Grisham Master Teacher and Alumni Association Graduate Teaching Excellence awards, Ball is one of 16 SEC faculty members recognized this year for their work advancing knowledge, elevating their institutions and reflecting high standards of his profession. They also serve as their university’s nominee for the SEC Professor of the Year Award.
Ball, who teaches in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, focuses his academics and research on advanced driver-assistance systems; deep learning; machine learning; sensors and processing; digital signal processing; digital image processing; and wearable technology. He is a founding member of MSU’s Athlete Engineering Institute, a multidisciplinary research collaboration exploring human performance, processes and analysis.
“Dr. Ball exemplifies the highest standards of faculty achievement through his extraordinary contributions in research, teaching and service. His career reflects a rare combination of scholarly distinction, innovative pedagogy and unwavering commitment to student success,” MSU President Mark E. Keenum said. “Dr. Ball’s cutting-edge research is not confined to theory; it translates into real-world solutions that improve safety, mobility and human performance on a national scale.”
Ball earned his bachelor’s degree and doctorate from MSU and a master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, all in electrical engineering. After working for Motorola, WYLE Electronics, the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center and other organizations, he joined MSU as an assistant professor in 2013. He quickly rose through the ranks, achieving associate professor status in 2019, the same year he was named endowed chair, attaining a full professorship in 2024.
During his time in the engineering college, Ball helped develop and modernize eight courses with active-learning concepts, project-based instruction and industry engagement. Additionally, he served as faculty advisor for the MSU EcoCAR EV Challenge team and was named EcoCAR’s Advisor of the Year for 2023-24.
Over his career, Ball has secured more than $20 million in external funding across 38 sponsored projects, including awards from the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Air Force Research Laboratory, Army Engineer Research and Development Center, and Army Combat Capabilities Development Command.
For more on MSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, visit www.ece.msstate.edu.
Learn about the SEC’s academic initiatives at www.thesecu.com.
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