An American Success Story - Jack Ballard Remembered

Released on = March 18, 2006, 11:25 am

Press Release Author = TPLS Corporation

Industry = Education

Press Release Summary = From a small town all-state linebacker, to a Princeton
Magna Cum Laude graduate, Mobil Oil executive, board member and chairman of
internationally renowned Wainwright House, to founder of Turning Points, John W.
(Jack) Ballard lived a true American success story. On Thursday, February 9, 2006,
John W. (Jack) Ballard passed away at his home in Hightstown, New Jersey. His life
serves as an example of a life dedicated to the ideal of service to humanity.

Press Release Body = Hightstown, NJ - March 13, 2006 - From a small town all-state
linebacker, to a Princeton Magna Cum Laude graduate, Mobil Oil executive, board
member and chairman of internationally renowned Wainwright House, to founder of
Turning Points, John W. (Jack) Ballard lived a true American success story. On
Thursday, February 9, 2006, John W. (Jack) Ballard passed away at his home in
Hightstown, New Jersey. His life serves as an example of a life dedicated to the
ideal of service to humanity.

Born March 30, 1927, in Mason City, Iowa, Jack Ballard graduated from University
City High School in St Louis, Missouri. An all-state Linebacker, he was an Order of
the Arrow Eagle Scout who was honored to escort Sir Winston Churchill around St.
Louis during a visit to the U.S. during World War II. Upon graduation, Ballard
enlisted and served in the U.S. Navy and was offered an athletic scholarship to
attend the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Instead he accepted an academic
scholarship at Princeton University. In 1950 he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a
degree in International Affairs, then completed his graduate studies at Columbia
University Business School, where he earned a Master's Degree in Economics.

Ballard had a 30-year career with Mobil Oil International, during which he held
executive positions in the fields of human resources and energy economics. In 1971,
as a personnel manager overseeing 3,000 executives in 100 countries, he assigned
himself the "Human Resources Manager" title - making him one of the first in
corporate America to use the term. His innovative style later gave him the
opportunity to head up a landmark project to train Saudi Arabian workers to take
over all refinery operations from foreign workers.

Jack met his wife Phoebe on a blind date, and soon began a marriage that lasted 55
years. Ballard's career took him and his family to over 40 countries and every
continent around the world. After retiring, he worked for Mobil as a consultant and
trainer, educating mid-level managers worldwide in the economics of the oil
industry. Ballard also spent two years "on loan" to the New York Urban Coalition,
where he was responsible for personnel and finance. While at the Coalition, he
started an innovative program to allow Harlem residents to own their homes, but soon
became disillusioned with the politics that prevented the program from expanding.

During the 50's the Ballards became involved in the Laymen's Movement; a group of
spiritually-minded businessmen who influenced business leaders to apply their
highest values in everyday work. The Receptive Listening Course at Wainwright House
was a formative experience for them, where participants quickly discovered that a
listener is much more effective if he or she has self-understanding (to listen to
another we first need to listen to ourselves). For the next twenty five years, the
Ballards were an integral part of Wainwright House. Phoebe served as Assistant
Director for years. In 1968 Jack was a trainer in the Innovative Management
Program, to "help the individual manager to become a more mature, creative person
who can in turn help others to develop".

1n 1984, Jack and Phoebe introduced the Turning Points companies - authoring and
leading the Third Half of Life (THL) seminars, starting with the \"Going for the
Gold\" life transition workshop. These intensive seminars used narrative assessments
and receptive listening exercises to help retiring professionals and their spouses
make decisions about how they would live in their golden years. During the 1980\'s,
the Ballards trained over 400 individuals. They wrote and self-published 2 books,
Beating the Age Game - Redefining Retirement and Turning Points - Create Your Path
Through Uncertainly and Change. "They were visible examples, "pioneers" I called
them, of living lives of purpose and meaning, paving the way for their own
generation and for the larger cohort of baby-boomers that would follow." said former
Turning Points CEO Steve Ristau, recalling the first time he met Jack & Phoebe
Ballard.

More than 20 years after they began, the world has caught up with Phoebe and Jack
Ballard. Turning Points is now on the internet, publishing a new edition of the
Turning Points book, and rolling out a national network of providers. Their vision
is finally coming true. Meg Newhouse is a life coach in Boston, who said of Jack
Ballard: "He had... a wonderful life and very positively impacted a lot of people,
including me." In 2002, Jack and Phoebe's son Mike took over management of the
company. Under his leadership, Turning Points recently completed the Turning Points
NavigatorT and Career NavigatorT online products. When word of Ballard's death went
out, many Turning Points students sent emails, including CU Alumna Myria Crawford,
who wrote: ".Your father has left a great legacy in the Turning Points Program."

In the next 5 years, millions of Americans will reach turning points in their lives,
and Turning Points providers nationwide will be positioned to assist them. A new
version of the Turning Points book will be out soon, revised and edited to speak to
a wider range of adults. College and university career centers continue to add
Career NavigatorT assessments and workshops to their counseling and course
offerings. More students, alumni, and professionals will subscribe to Turning Points
NavigatorT in order to build the foundation for discovering the meaning and purpose
of their lives.

Jack Ballard is survived by his beloved wife Phoebe, three sons, a daughter-in-law,
two grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. He will be sorely
missed and fondly remembered by family and friends alike. A Memorial Service will
be held at 11:30am on May 13, 2006 at Round Hill Church in Greenwich, Connecticut to
honor the life of a man who dedicated his life to the development of human
potential.

###

About Turning Points

Turning Points is a family business founded by Jack and Phoebe Ballard in the
1980's. Its original mission was to serve retiring baby boomers through workshops
and seminars. Two books and hundreds of students later, it was concluded that the
need for transition management skills and tools exists across the spectrum of age,
profession and careers. In late 2002, son Mike took over management of the company
and added the online assessments, which resulted in the new hybrid curriculum.

Turning Points provides volume discounts and training programs for college Career
Centers, Career Counselors, Human Resource managers, Financial and Estate Planners,
and Certified Life Coaches. Authorized providers receive trainer training, Leader's
Guides with a plug-and-play curriculum, discounts for Turning Points books, and
subscriptions to online assessments. Certifications for qualified career services
professionals or independent providers are available. (www.TPNavigator.com)

About Wainwright House

Wainwright House is not affiliated with any church, religion, or any particular
spiritual or philosophical path. It is a sanctuary where all these ideas and
cultural traditions can be remembered, re-experienced and re-discovered for the 21st
Century. It is one of the original centers of The Human Potential movement,
offering a broad spectrum of psychological and philosophical approaches to the
development of consciousness and growth of the whole person towards fulfillment and
self-actualization.

The roots of Wainwright House go back to 1941, to informal meetings of a small group
of business and professional men, who united to deepen their part in building
spirituality into the life of the world. In 1949, under Secretary General Trygve
Lie, the Movement was responsible for the establishment of a meditation room at the
U.N. and for the opening and closing of each General Assembly session with a moment
of silent prayer and meditation. It was further instrumental in having a prayer room
set aside at the nation's capitol.

Such notable names as Dwight D. Eisenhower, J.C. Penny, John D. Rockefeller Jr.,
Francis Sayers, Wallace Spears, Weyman Huckabee, R.W. Woodruff, Conrad Hilton,
William Demorest., Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Gerald Heard, Robert Greenleaf, Jean
Houston, Louis Mobley, Ralph Bunche, Laurens Van der Post, Rebecca Beard, Aldous
Huxley, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Arthur Young, Joseph Campbell and the Dalai Lama have
all been associated with this great institution.

The development of affiliations with Hudson River Counseling Services, the Teilhard
Association, the C.G. Jung Foundation in New York and others have resulted in the
creation of nine learning Centers at Wainwright House. Over the years Wainwright
House has become one of the world's foremost learning institutions in the
disciplines of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, offering a wide range of
courses, seminars, and conferences. (www.Wainright.org/history.htm)
###


Web Site = http://www.TPNavigator.com

Contact Details = Mike Ballard
1580 St Paul St Suite 4
Denver, CO 80206
720.641.5919 - mike@tpnavigator.com

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