Background
Ball, Elmer Darwin was born on September 21, 1870 in Athens, Vermont, United States. Son of Leroy A. and Mary A. (Mansfield) Balliol
Ball, Elmer Darwin was born on September 21, 1870 in Athens, Vermont, United States. Son of Leroy A. and Mary A. (Mansfield) Balliol
Bachelor of Science, Iowa State College, 1895, Master of Science, 1898. Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, 1907.
Ball is known for his contributions to the knowledge of the leafhoppers, treehoppers, froghoppers, and other related insects. Born in Athens, Vermont, his family moved to Iowa shortly after, where Ball received his early education. Ball married Mildred R. Norvell in 1899.
After a brief stint as a school teacher and then assistant principal of Albion Seminary, he began teaching zoology and entolomogy at Iowa State College, and then at Colorado Agricultural College.
After this he became a Professor in the Utah Agricultural College, and commenced graduate work with Herbert Osborn as his mentor. Specializing in the biology of leafhoppers and related taxa, he received his Doctor of Philosophy from Ohio State University in 1907.
That same year he became the dean of the Utah Agricultural College. In 1916, Ball became the state entomologist of Wisconsin for two years before returning to serve as the head of the department of zoology and entomology at Iowa State.
Ball went on leave from Iowa State to serve as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for two years, from 1920 until 1921.
He was employed at the United States. Department of Agriculture from 1921–1925 as the scientific research director Following this, he worked for the Florida State Plant Board, where he researched insect pathogens of celery. In 1928, he was appointed dean of the College of Agriculture and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Arizona, where he worked until illness prevented him from doing southern
After suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in February, 1938, he went on extended leave.
After five year of illness, Ball died on October 5, 1943, in Pasadena, California. His papers are held in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Entomological Society America, Utah Academy Science (president, 1910), Iowa Academy Science. Member Washington Academy Science, Biological and Entomological societies Washington, American Association Economics Entomologists (president 1918), Pacific Slope Association Economics Entomologists (president, 1915-1916), Ecological Society America, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta (national president 1921-1922).
Married Mildred R. Norvell, June 14, 1899.