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Thomas B. Ballard is Director of the Partnerships Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Tom joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2004 as Director for Economic Development and Partnerships in ORNL’s Technology Transfer and Economic Development (TTED) Directorate and served as Interim Director of TTED from August to December 2007. On January 1, 2008, TTED became the Partnerships Directorate, and Tom was named the first leader of the new organization. 

Under Tom’s direction, the Partnerships Directorate is responsible for intellectual property management, licensing, sponsored research, and cultivation of partnerships with businesses, industries, entrepreneurs, economic development organizations, and higher education institutions.

Before joining ORNL, Tom was Vice President for Public and Governmental Relations at the University of Tennessee (UT), where he spent more than three decades helping to facilitate major initiatives in Tennessee, including implementation of the Solid Waste Management Act of 1991 and the Tennessee Growth Policy Act of 1998, development of statewide distance learning and telecommunications networks, and coordination of the planning committee for the first-ever Governor’s Economic Summit in 1997. Tom joined the UT staff in 1969 as Director of Alumni Programs and moved to the Institute for Public Service (IPS) in early 1973.

Tom serves on the board of directors of a number of local and regional not-for-profit organizations, including the Blount County Chamber of Commerce, East Tennessee Economic Council (Immediate Past Chair), East Tennessee State University’s Innovation Park, Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership, National Transportation Research Center Inc., Oak Ridge Economic Partnership (2008 Chair), Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tennessee Technology Development Corporation (Executive Committee), Tennessee Valley Corridor, Inc. (Past Chair), and Tennessee Valley Corridor Foundation (Chair). He also serves on the Advisory Board for UT’s Center for Industrial Services and is a member of the Southern Technology Council.

Tom is a graduate of UT with a bachelor’s degree in communications and was the 2001 recipient of the College’s Hileman Outstanding Alumni Award. He also was named the second “Tennessee Valley Corridor Champion” in 2005.