Glenn Arlen Ballard

Glenn Ballard passed away peacefully with his family at his side on February 3, 2025. He was 93. Widely known as a gentleman and scholar, Glenn Ballard came from humble beginnings. The son of an electrician on the old Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, he was the oldest of five children. He was the only one in his family to attend college, largely because of his athletic prowess, and he was good enough to gain entry into Brown University in the Ivy League. Yet it was his academic success that carried him from there to his position as Headmaster of two of the most prestigious schools in Texas, The Hockaday School in Dallas, and the Kinkaid School in Houston.

After three years at South High School in Pittsburgh, where he played against the likes of Johnny Unitas, Glenn’s life changed when his namesake, Glenn Wilde, recommended him for a post-graduate year at the Kiski School, about 50 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Glenn received a scholarship to go to Kiski, and he was one of the few four-sport lettermen at the school. Kiski was also strong academically. For the first time in his life, Ballard was exposed to great teachers–mostly World War II vets with a strong intellectual bent–who opened up the life of the mind. It was at Kiski that Ballard first learned of the value of faculty to a school, and he always maintained that the faculty was the heart and soul of any school. The faculty at each of his schools always loved him for it.

Upon his graduation from Kiski in 1951, Glenn matriculated at Brown, but suffered a knee injury in his first semester. He tried football at the University of Pittsburgh, but his knee never fully recovered and his playing days were over. Ballard concentrated on his studies–and on a night job to pay his way. He picked up an academic scholarship in his second year, and graduated from Pitt in 1955 with co-majors in chemistry and math.

Pittsburg was also where Glenn met the love of his life, Ann Henry Ballard. They saw each other for the first time on a staircase, with her at the top and him at the bottom, and they were instantly taken with one another. It was that way ever after, with Ann at the top driving Glenn to bigger and better things. Glenn used to say that Ann knew what he was thinking before he did, and he always took her advice. They had four children together.

Ballard returned to Kiski after his graduation as his way of giving back to the school that had done so much for him. He taught mathematics, and coached football, swimming and baseball. He stayed at Kiski for 11 years, all the while developing a burning desire to pursue a career in private school life. He loved the atmosphere of “civility and excellence” at Kiski and other such institutions, and we wanted to be a permanent part of it.

He made his move in 1966, when he joined the Graland Country Day school in Denver, Colorado, as head of the upper school. There he learned many of the habits that he would employ for the rest of his career, like shaking hands with students at the door to the school each morning. While at Graland, Ballard also completed his Masters Degree in Mathematics at the University of Denver.

Soon afterward, Ballard moved on to become Headmaster of Brownell-Talbot school in Omaha, Nebraska. His five-year stint at that school spring-boarded him to his positions as Headmaster of the Hockaday School for girls in Dallas, Texas, from 1972-1978, and finally as Headmaster of the Kinkaid School in Houston from 1979-1996. Both schools, founded shortly after the turn of the last century, are nationally known institutions with long traditions of educational excellence. Ballard was a prolific fund raiser, and he left each of these schools better than he found them, with greatly increased endowments and new buildings.

Ballard was the President of The Independent Schools Association of the Southwest and the Houston Independent Schools Association. He would fly his airplane to different schools across the country using his skills as an instrument pilot. He had more than 1000 hours of flight time.

When he was Headmaster, Ballard would walk out of his office each day to visit different parts of the school to observe class, or attend a practice or game. He personally wrote cards to all of the students and faculty on their birthdays, and would have them delivered each day to their recipients. He also had a bulldog when he was at Kinkaid named “Dolly,” who roamed the halls of the school to the delight of the students.

Ballard was most proud of the fact that 11 of the colleagues he hired during his career as Headmaster went on to be heads of school themselves. After retiring from Kinkaid, Ballard went on to become the interim Headmaster at the Holland Hall school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Upon graduation of his first class at Holland Hall, the President of the Student Body announced that everyone had voted to remove the “interim” from his Headmaster title. He continued to consult with numerous schools and served as a Board Member for several schools.

Ann and Glenn moved to Lakeway, Texas, after their school life. Ann, who had been a teacher all her life, predeceased Glenn, but she made sure they bought a house on the Lakeway air strip so that her husband could pursue his passion. And indeed he did, flying his airplane until he grounded himself in 1979. He also rode bikes and his two motorcycles while walking every day on the golf course. He was a voracious reader, and his library consisted of thousands of books, many of which were signed by the authors, whom he knew. John McPhee, who wrote “The Headmaster,” inscribed in his book a note to Glenn Ballard, “who knows a Headmaster when he sees one.”

Glenn Ballard is survived by his four children, Glenn A. Ballard, Jr., Tracey Ballard Krofcheck, Paula Ballard McKay and Catherine “Laney” Ballard Infante, his ten grandchildren, and thirteen great grandchildren. Like all of his students, Glenn’s offspring have benefited from his tutelage.

Beyond his academic, athletic and career successes, Glenn Ballard will be remembered for his kindness, dignity and the respect he unfailingly displayed to anyone who was fortunate enough to know him.

A celebration of Glenn A. Ballard is scheduled at The Kinkaid School on Tuesday, February 18, 2025 beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the Brown Auditorium.