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Dr. Chet Ballard, Professor of Sociology
Coordinator of Sociology Graduate Programs
Ph.D. (Sociology), Texas A & M University, 1980
cballard@valdosta.edu
Office: (229) 333-5491
University Center: 11
Download Dr. Ballard's Vita

I am in my 20th year of service at Valdosta State University. My BA sociology degree is from Cumberland College in Kentucky, Masters degree in sociology from Western Kentucky University and Ph.D. in sociology from Texas A&M University where I studied rural sociology and community development. My 24 year career as a sociologist, teacher (I taught for four years in Virginia before moving to Georgia), researcher, and applied community consultant has produced over 40 publications including articles, research reports, monographs, and one co-edited book, The Student’s Companion to Sociology published in 1997 with two British co-authors. I teach a variety of sociology courses including a completely on-line course in VSU's education doctoral program. My current published research is a look at the early days of the Association for Humanist Sociology published in The American Sociologist. Dr. Prine (Criminal Justice) and I have recently completed a study of community policing in Thomasville, GA. In 1992 I was elected president of the Georgia Sociological Association, in 2000 I served as President of the Association for Humanist Sociology, and in 2002 (and again in 2004) I served as president of VSU's chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). I am President of the Board of Directors of America's Second Harvest Food Bank of South Georgia, Chair of the Advisory Council for the Alzheimer's Day Care Center, a program of VSU's Division of Social Work, and a member of the Community Policing Subcommittee in Valdosta's Weed and Seed Program. My partner, Myrna, is president of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce and we live in rural Brooks County, out in the sticks, at the end of a semi-paved road with three dogs and two silly cats.