Dr. Charles J. Ball formerly served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Threat Reduction and Arms Control (DASD/TRAC). In this capacity, he was the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (NCB) for: acquisition oversight, implementation, and compliance with nuclear, biological, and chemical treaties; cooperative threat reduction; chemical demilitarization programs; and building global partner capacity to counter weapons of mass destruction (CWMD).

Prior to joining the Department of Defense, Dr. Ball worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for over twenty years.

At the Laboratory, he was the Deputy Program Development Director for Defense, serving in a variety of policy and leadership positions at LLNL. Dr. Ball led major efforts to expand the Laboratory’s role in supporting the DoD counter proliferation, counterterrorism and Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2AD) missions.

He initiated an effort to apply the Laboratory’s conventional weapons expertise to develop very low collateral damage weapons for enhanced effectiveness in counterterrorism operations, as well as tailored munitions for other military contingencies necessitating precision effects. In addition, Dr. Ball applied Laboratory expertise in hypersonics to address critical A2AD challenges.

He was responsible for an innovative program to utilize technologies associated with the nuclear weapons stockpile program for use by conventional forces to close critical capability gaps and enhance US air superiority.

When he served as Deputy Program Manager for the Counter Proliferation Analysis and Planning System (CAPS) program, Dr. Ball focused the program on specialized analysis to support the Special Operations Command CWMD mission.

Dr. Ball received his BA from Duke University and his PhD from the London School of Economics, after which he was a post-doctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

He has served as an intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve since 1996.