Remembering Sheffield alumnus Dr Christopher Ball

Early years in South Yorkshire and Europe

Christopher Ball was born to Fred Ball and Florence Inns on 23 April 1940 in Doncaster, living for his early years in the local mining village of Armthorpe. Fred was in a Royal Engineering Regiment of the British army as the second world war took hold across Europe and, as a result, Christopher and his mother initially lived with his maternal grandparents.

In 1943, Christopher and Florence travelled to Loughborough, where his mother had taken a domestic service job for an aristocratic family based at Kinchley House, in the Leicestershire village of Quorn. Christopher enjoyed his time at Kinchley, and recalled living 'a life of almost royalty' during this period.

Mother and son returned to Armthorpe after the sudden death of Christopher's grandfather, and the young boy began school as the war entered its final stages. A lasting memory from this time was of hiding beneath the stairs in the family home whenever they heard a V-1 flying bomb - better known as a 'doodlebug' - passing overhead.

The family moved to Germany in 1947 to reunite with Christopher's father. The three of them lived in Berlin, then Hamburg, and finally Dortmund as Fred's regiment was posted to numerous postwar cities, before finally returning to Armthorpe in 1951. Christopher prepared to sit his Eleven-plus exam shortly afterwards, and qualified to attend the local Thorne Grammar School. He graduated in 1958, earning a County Major scholarship to study Biochemistry at Sheffield.

Sheffield in the swinging Sixties

As a student at Sheffield for a substantial part of the 1960s, Christopher studied within the Biochemistry department established by Nobel Prize winner Sir Hans Krebs. He enjoyed meeting 'many more people with academic talent than in previous years; people from all over the country and abroad with diverse perspectives', and was particularly struck at 'being taught by people with outstanding minds who were at the international frontier of their profession'.

Christopher gained his honours degree in Biochemistry in 1961, and went on to study for a PhD in Genetics under Professor Alan Roper, which he received in 1965. Following this, he continued to do postdoctoral research in fungal genetics, then taught as a lecturer in Genetics until 1967. He also played rugby for the University's first team during his time at Sheffield, and witnessed the emergence of such iconic pop cultural behemoths as The Beatles and the Beyond The Fringe comedy revue.

He married Jane in 1963, and their children Nicholas and Christina followed in 1967 and 1968 respectively.

Building career success, and moving to the USA

Around this time, Christopher made his first professional steps away from academia, taking up a role as a senior scientist with Glaxo at a manufacturing plant near Morecambe Bay. He stayed with Glaxo until 1979, becoming head of a new genetics division and continuing to lecture nationally and overseas.

Interest in Christopher and his work was growing following his international lecturing and publishing, and as the 1970s transitioned into the 1980s, he began working with a pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey. By 1983, the opportunity had arisen for Christopher to take a significant career leap and head up Panlabs, a well respected but relatively small player in the burgeoning molecular biology field.

He stayed at Panlabs for the next 15 years, playing a major role in growing the company to become a leader in its field, in part through the acquisition of pioneering new technologies to enhance the study of fungal genetics. After Panlabs was sold to a public company in Toronto, Christopher set up his own consulting business - Creative Bioventures - based out of Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Christopher remained a kind and dedicated friend of the University of Sheffield while living overseas, and made recurring donations to the Alumni Fund over a number of years. He retired in 2011, at the age of 71, and enjoyed playing golf and bridge in the years that followed, as well as spending time with his children and grandchild. Christopher and Jane ended their relationship in 2013, and Christopher later met Gail Foulke, who he married on 16 January 2017 - 'the first time we met,' he recalled, 'we started a conversation that has never stopped...a new world opened up for us.'

Dr Christopher Ball sadly passed away on 13 December 2023, survived by his wife Gail Foulke-Ball, and his children Nicholas and Christina. In his memory, Gail chose to make a generous gift to support genetic disease research at Sheffield - ensuring that Christopher continues to have a positive impact on the very field in which he always excelled.

The University extends its sincerest condolences to Dr Ball's family and loved ones, and is deeply moved that his relationship to Sheffield remained a close one so many years after he graduated. He will be fondly remembered.