The Art of Problem Solving: Meet Financial Planning's Myron Ballard

Myron Ballard has ten plus years of experience in a variety of administrative roles across UVA and the health system, from Darden to the Department of Biology to SEAS and Printing and Copy Services.  This June, UVAFinance welcomed him to the Office of Financial Planning and Analysis as a Project Associate.  

Ballard is a natural problem solver, dedicated to making colleagues' jobs easier and finding solutions for problems.  In fact, his interest in his current position only came about because he was helping someone else locate that perfect job when he encountered the listing.

"The role just seemed so focused on helping to innovate and modernizing work, and helping to carry a department into the future," he says.

In other words, it was a perfect fit for someone with his career background and skillset.

In addition to the depth and breadth of his professional experience, Ballard also brings the skills of an avid fiction writer, the perception of a prolific visual artist, and his bachelor's degree from UVA in Anthropology.

Ballard finds that his studies and his artistic pursuits complement his chosen career very well. 

"Anthropology taught me to think more about how people think," he says.

"In all the different positions I've held, I have been able to think about how people behave as a reflection of how they think of themselves in their environment, and how that work environment, in turn, shapes them as an individual."

Ballard takes that insight into the story behind the person into his art and his day-to-day work. 

"Whether I'm painting or drawing, or writing a piece of fiction, I think of the story behind how people operate; and in my job, I think of how the department operates, or the school.  I try to understand the relationship of the parts to the whole," he says.

He also finds that he can bring his innate creativity into his work life, as he identifies ways to make his colleagues' work more efficient and enjoyable.

Visit Ballard's website for art, short stories, and more: https://www.myronangelo.com/