Deborah Loewenberg Ball is the William H. Payne Collegiate Professor of education at the University of Michigan, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, a research professor in the Institute for Social Research, and the director of TeachingWorks. She taught elementary school for more than 15 years and continues to teach children every summer. Ball’s research focuses on the practice of teaching, using elementary mathematics as a critical context for investigating the challenges of helping children develop understanding and agency and to work collectively, and on leveraging the power of teaching to disrupt patterns of racism, marginalization, and inequity. Ball is an expert on the demands of teaching and the imperatives for teachers’ professional education.

Ball has authored more than 200 articles and chapters and has lectured and made major presentations around the world. She has also developed distinctive collections of video records of practice that are broadly used to make teaching practice visible. Her research has been recognized with several awards and honors, and she has served on national and international commissions and panels focused on the improvement of education. She currently serves on the National Science Board and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Board of Trustees and previously served as president of the American Educational Research Association (2017–2018) and as dean of the University of Michigan School of Education (2005–2016). Ball has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education, and is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and the American Educational Research Association.