Michael Balls (born 1938) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and professor emeritus of medical cell biology at the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

. He is best known for his work on laboratory animal welfare and

alternatives to animal testing Alternatives to animal testing are the development and implementation of test methods that avoid the use of live animals. There is widespread agreement that a reduction in the number of animals used and the refinement of testing to reduce suffer ...

Early life and education

Balls was born in 1938 in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, the third son of Nellie Mary (née Dawson) and Charles Edward Dunbar Balls. He studied zoology at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, graduating with a second in 1960. He conducted research for a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from Oxford at the University of Geneva Switzerland between 1961 and 1964, followed by post-doctoral research at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

, Berkeley, CA, and at

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

, Portland, OR, from 1964 to 1966.

Career

Balls lectured in the School of Biological Sciences at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

, a job that he had got through his friend Ian Gibson.Origins of the Cameron-Balls Feud
During that time he taught at Eton for a term. In 1975, he moved to the University of Nottingham Medical School as a senior lecturer in the Department of Human Morphology. Balls became Reader in Medical Cell Biology in 1985 and was promoted to Professor of Medical Cell Biology in 1990. Since 1995, he has been an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at Nottingham. Balls became a Trustee of Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME) in 1979, and was Chairman of the Trustees from 1981 until his resignation in June 2013. He was Editor-in-Chief of ''Alternatives to Laboratory Animals'' (ATLA) from 1983 to 2018. He acted as an adviser to the British government during the drafting and passage of the

Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, sometimes referred to as ASPA, is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1986 c. 14) passed in 1986, which regulates the use of animals used for research in the UK. The Act ...

and, from 1987–1995, was a founder member of the Animal Procedures Committee (which advises the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

on all matters related to animal experimentation). In 1993, Balls became the first Head of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) which was established in 1991 within the European Commission's

Joint Research Centre The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to European Union (EU) policy. The JRC is ...

(JRC). He retired from this position in 2002. In 2002, Balls was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

Awards

* Björn Ekwall Memorial Award (BEMA) (2015): "In recognition of his pioneering work in promoting animal welfare and alternatives to animal testing" * * * *

Personal life

He is the father of politician

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Ex ...

and investment officer Andrew Balls.

References

External links

Biography at the Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balls, Michael 1938 births Living people Academics of the University of East Anglia Academics of the University of Nottingham Alumni of the University of Oxford British zoologists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British animal welfare scholars British animal welfare workers Reed College alumni Ed Balls