IN MEMORIAM

Warren B. Ballard Jr.

Warren B. Ballard, Jr.—beloved hus-
band of Heather A. Whitlaw and widely pub-
lished author, editor, and nationally
recognized professor at Texas Tech Univer-
sity's Department of Natural Resources Man-
agement—passed away peacefully at his
Lubbock, Texas home on January 12, 2012.
During Warren's long career he produced
more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles
and raised over $5.9 million in grant, con-
tract, and research funding, which supported
more than 60 graduate students. “His legacy
lives on in the students, faculty, and research
projects he touched,” said Michael Galyean,
Dean of Texas Tech's College of Agricultural
Sciences and Natural Resources.

Warren was born on April 28, 1947 in
Boston, Massachusetts. The family moved
to Albuquerque, New Mexico in the early
1950s, where Warren attended St. Pius X
High School. He earned a BSc. in Fish and
Wildlife Management from New Mexico
State University, his MSc in Environmental
Biology from Kansas State University, and
PhD in Wildlife Science from the University
of Arizona. After completing his MSc in

1971, Warren worked for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and then from 1973–1990
as a wildlife biologist and research scientist
with the Alaska Department of Fish and
Game. His groundbreaking research on pre-
dator-prey relationships, wolf ecology, and
ungulate populations is still widely recog-
nized and considered foundational research.
He then worked as a consultant with the
National Park Service and LGL Alaska (an
ecological research company) while getting
his PhD. He soon became the Director of
the New Brunswick Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Unit (1993–1996) and on June 7,
1995 married the love of his life, fellow
wildlife biologist Heather Whitlaw. Warren
served as Research Supervisor with the Ari-
zona Game and Fish Department (1996–
1998) before joining the Texas Tech faculty
in 1998 where he achieved the rank of Full
Professor in 2003, was named the Bricker
Chair in Wildlife Management in 2006, and
Horn Professor in 2008. “Horn Professors
… represent the very best of our faculty,”
said Texas Tech President Guy Bailey.

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A member of more than seven profes-
sional societies, Warren Ballard served as
editor of four international journals including
the Wildlife Society Bulletin and ALCES
from 1998–2001. He was an Associate Edi-
tor of ALCES for many years as well as
Wildlife Monographs and the Wildlife
Society Bulletin. The quality of Ballard's
research has been recognized with 22
awards. In 1989, he was honored by his
peers with the Distinguished Moose Biolo-
gist award. In 2002, he earned the Chancel-
lor's Council Distinguished Research Award
at Texas Tech as well as a special service
recognition award from The Wildlife
Society. Ballard was recognized as the

Outstanding Researcher in the College of
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
at Texas Tech—four times. He became a
TWS Fellow in 2005, and has won various
society awards for best professional article,
monograph, and publications.

Warren's legacy in the moose world is
certain. His two chapters on Population
Dynamics and Predator-Prey Relationships
(coauthored with Victor Van Ballenberghe)
in “Ecology and Management of North
American Moose” stand as seminal sum-
mary works. The moose world is indebted
to Warren Ballard and the species is better
off for his being—he will be missed.

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