Dr. Ballard spent 30 years at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, where he spearheaded the development of manned submersibles and remotely operated vehicles for marine research. While at WHOI Robert Ballard founded the Deep Submergence Laboratory.

Dr. Ballard has had an accomplished career including the creation of the JASON Project, an educational program designed to inspire in students a lifelong passion to pursue learning in science, math and technology through exploration and discovery.

Dr. Robert D. Ballard is President of the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut and Director of the Institute for Archaeological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography. He is best known for his 1985 discovery of the Titanic.

Dr. Ballard has 13 honorary degrees and 6 military awards; he served in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a commander for 30 years. In 1996, he received the National Geographic Society's prestigious Hubbard Medal for "extraordinary accomplishments in coaxing secrets from the world's oceans and engaging students in the wonder of science." In 2003, he received the National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has published 18 books, numerous scientific papers and a dozen articles in National Geographic magazine. Ballard also has been featured in several National Geographic television programs, including the record-breaking Secrets of the Titanic. He is a National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence.

Throughout his career Ballard has conducted more than one hundred deep-sea expeditions, using both manned and unmanned vehicles. In 1982 Ballard organized the Deep Submergence Laboratory (DSL) at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to begin developing the sophisticated remotely operated vehicle system known as Argo-Jason, a deep-towed vehicle carrying sensitive video cameras connected to the surface by fiber-optic cable through which broadcast quality images could be transmitted. Developed with support of the navy and tested in 1984, Ballard would use this system for his best-known expedition, the discovery of the RMS Titanic.

In August of 1985, Ballard as chief scientist conducted a joint French-American expedition to find the Titanic. Using the newly tested Argo, Ballard began by searching for the debris field in an area just south of where Titanic's lifeboats were found by the Carpathia. Based on extensive research, Ballard and his team conducted several sweeps of the ocean floor, finding no evidence of the wreck until the early morning hours of September 1, first seeing the Titanic's massive boiler, then pieces of hull plating, portholes, and a railing turned on its side. Ballard returned to the site in July of 1986 and dove on the Titanic wreck in the manned submersible, Alvin with the small remote vehicle Jason Jr. deployed to investigate the interior areas Alvin couldn't reach. It was during this second visit to the Titanic that Ballard placed a memorial plaque on the deck of the stern in memory of those who lost their lives in the tragedy. Ballard returned to the site in the summer of 2004 to investigate any deterioration caused by later salvage operations and by nature.

Dr. Ballard is presently developing a joint M.A./Ph.D program in the new field of archaeological oceanography at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography. He is a member of the NOAA Science Advisory Board and serves as one of 16 Commissioners on the President's Commission on Ocean Policy.  His two most recent books, History of the Ancient Seafarers and Return to Titanic were published by National Geographic in 2004.