Andrew J. Ballard is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Florida State University. He previously held positions at American University, Washington, DC, including Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy, Fellow in Residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, and Fellow in Residence at the Data Science Center. Ballard received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University in 2018 and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2010.
Ballard's research focuses on American politics, specifically legislative institutions, political parties, and the interplay between legislators and the public. He has published articles in notable journals such as the American Political Science Review, The Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and Party Politics. His research questions include the influence of minority parties on legislation, the impact of party goals on legislative behaviour, and the causes and consequences of polarizing and uncivil rhetoric from legislators.
Ballard has also authored and co-authored several publications, including:
Andrew J. Ballard is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the School of Public Affairs, American University, Washington, DC. He is also a fellow in residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies and the Data Science Center. Ballard completed a Ph.D. in Political Science at Duke University in 2018 and holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan, which he completed in 2010.
Ballard's research focuses on machine learning and AI, with a particular emphasis on their applications in the biological sciences. He has worked on improving the AlphaFold system, a deep neural network that predicts protein structures from amino acid sequences, multiple sequence alignments, and homologous proteins. The system achieved a median domain GDT_TS of 92.4, representing a significant improvement in protein structure prediction. Ballard has also contributed to research in free energy estimation, normalizing flows for atomic solids, and metacontrol for adaptive imagination-based optimization.
Andrew J. Ballard is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the School of Public Affairs, American University, Washington, DC. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan.
Ballard has been affiliated with WWF United Kingdom and is a Fellow in Residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies and the Data Science Center at American University.
Ballard's research focuses on machine learning and its applications in various fields, including protein structure prediction, bioinformatics, and chemistry.