Oral L. Ballam, dean of the College of Education at Utah State University, has the distinction of being the first inductee into the Utah Educators Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame, located in the Educational Resource Center in the Emma Eccles Jones Education Building at USU, is sponsored by the five statewide chapters of Phi Delta Kappa. PDK chapters in Southern Utah, Salt Lake City and Ogden, at Brigham Young University, as well as the USU chapter, nominated Utah educators.Nominees exemplified commitment to quality education and improvement of the profession. Each was required to have 20 years of experience in education, 10 in Utah.
Ballam came to USU in 1963 as an associate professor of education after 12 years as teacher, principal and superintendent in the Cache School District. He has been dean of the College of Education more than 20 years.
He was honored by Phi Delta Kappa for devotion to making education accessible to all people. "Oral Ballam's energetic, dynamic way of getting things done has served education at a state and national level very well,"
The idea to create a hall of fame began several years ago with James Blair serving as president of the USU PDK chapter.