Notable Alumni
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Notables In the News
Alumni by Category
Authors & Filmmakers
Pintip Dunn
Class of 1995 | Parsons High School, Kansas
Pintip Dunn is a New York Times bestselling author of young adult fiction. She graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School.
Pintip’s novel, Forget Tomorrow, won the RWA RITA® for Best First Book. It is also a finalist for the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, the Japanese Sakura Medal, the MASL Truman Award, and the Tome Society It list. In addition, The Darkest Lie was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. Her books have been translated into four languages, and her other titles include Remember Yesterday, Seize Today, Girl on the Verge, and the upcoming Star-Crossed and Malice.
She lives with her husband and children in Maryland.
Saeed Jones
Class of 2004 | Lewisville High School, Texas
Saeed Jones is a writer and poet whose debut collection, Prelude to Bruise, was named a 2014 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. His second book, a memoir titled, How We Fight for Our Lives, won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction in 2019. In 2023, Saeed’s book of poetry, Alive at the End of the World, won the Anisfield-Wolf Award for poetry.
Saeed previously worked for BuzzFeed as the founding LGBT editor and its executive culture editor. He is also one of the hosts of the podcast, Vibe Check.
Of his time in speech and debate, Saeed said, “In high school, my debate coach, Sally Squibb, who I’m still very close to, was a huge influence, and we spent so much time together. With speech you’re taking literature and bringing it to life and really begin to internalize, and certainly with poetry, with rhythm and sound and all of that, it ceases to just be something on the shelf. And that was an experience where I had someone saying “You’re good at this, you’re talented. This isn’t just average, and you need to keep working harder.” So along the way I felt like I kept having those kinds of mentors who would go, “You’re onto something, keep working harder.”
Links:
Social:
Priya Krishna
Class of 2009 | Greenhill School, Texas
Priya Krishna is a food writer who contributes regularly to the New York Times and Bon Appétit. She is the author of the best-selling cookbook, Indian-ish, which was named a best cookbook of the year by Eater, NPR, Food & Wine, The New York Times, Bon Appétit, and several others.
She is a host on Bon Appétit‘s popular YouTube channel, where she teaches (among other things) the basics of Indian cooking.
Headshot photo credit is Edlyn D’Souza.
R.F. Kuang
Class of 2013 | Greenhill School, TX
Rebecca F. Kuang is a fantasy novelist, and has written numerous novels including The Poppy War, which was nominated for the 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Her later releases include The Dragon Republic, The Burning God, Babel, and Yellowface. Babel debuted at the top spot on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2022.
Rebecca participated in Lincoln Douglas Debate in high school, winning the National Championship at the National Debate Coaches National Championships in 2013. Rebecca was also awarded the top individual speaker award in her division and the NDCA’s Marilee Dukes and Patricia Bailey Award earned by the Lincoln Douglas debater in the United States that accumulated the most success over the entire competitive season.
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Class of 1995 | Parsons High School, Kansas
Pintip Dunn is a New York Times bestselling author of young adult fiction. She graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School.
Pintip’s novel, Forget Tomorrow, won the RWA RITA® for Best First Book. It is also a finalist for the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, the Japanese Sakura Medal, the MASL Truman Award, and the Tome Society It list. In addition, The Darkest Lie was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. Her books have been translated into four languages, and her other titles include Remember Yesterday, Seize Today, Girl on the Verge, and the upcoming Star-Crossed and Malice.
She lives with her husband and children in Maryland.
Class of 2004 | Lewisville High School, Texas
Saeed Jones is a writer and poet whose debut collection, Prelude to Bruise, was named a 2014 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. His second book, a memoir titled, How We Fight for Our Lives, won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction in 2019. In 2023, Saeed’s book of poetry, Alive at the End of the World, won the Anisfield-Wolf Award for poetry.
Saeed previously worked for BuzzFeed as the founding LGBT editor and its executive culture editor. He is also one of the hosts of the podcast, Vibe Check.
Of his time in speech and debate, Saeed said, “In high school, my debate coach, Sally Squibb, who I’m still very close to, was a huge influence, and we spent so much time together. With speech you’re taking literature and bringing it to life and really begin to internalize, and certainly with poetry, with rhythm and sound and all of that, it ceases to just be something on the shelf. And that was an experience where I had someone saying “You’re good at this, you’re talented. This isn’t just average, and you need to keep working harder.” So along the way I felt like I kept having those kinds of mentors who would go, “You’re onto something, keep working harder.”
Links:
Social Handles:
Class of 2009 | Greenhill School, Texas
Priya Krishna is a food writer who contributes regularly to the New York Times and Bon Appétit. She is the author of the best-selling cookbook, Indian-ish, which was named a best cookbook of the year by Eater, NPR, Food & Wine, The New York Times, Bon Appétit, and several others.
She is a host on Bon Appétit‘s popular YouTube channel, where she teaches (among other things) the basics of Indian cooking.
Headshot photo credit is Edlyn D’Souza.
Class of 2013 | Greenhill School, TX
Rebecca F. Kuang is a fantasy novelist, and has written numerous novels including The Poppy War, which was nominated for the 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Her later releases include The Dragon Republic, The Burning God, Babel, and Yellowface. Babel debuted at the top spot on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2022.
Rebecca participated in Lincoln Douglas Debate in high school, winning the National Championship at the National Debate Coaches National Championships in 2013. Rebecca was also awarded the top individual speaker award in her division and the NDCA’s Marilee Dukes and Patricia Bailey Award earned by the Lincoln Douglas debater in the United States that accumulated the most success over the entire competitive season.
Links:
Social:
Ben Lerner
Class of 1997 | Topeka High School, Kansas
Ben Lerner is a poet, novelist, essayist, critic and teacher. Ben is the recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright, Guggenheim, and MacArthur Foundations as well as a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Ben teaches at Brooklyn College, where he was named a Distinguished Professor of English in 2016.
Ben competed at the 1997 National Forensic League National Tournament in International Extemporaneous Speaking and won. He has also authored four books of poetry, The Lichtenberg Figures, Angle of Yaw, Mean Free Path, and The Lights and three novels, Leaving the Atocha Station, 10:04, and The Topeka School.
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Min Jin Lee
Class of 1986 | The Bronx High School of Science, New York
Min Jin Lee is a Korean American writer whose work frequently deals with Korean American topics. Her debut novel Free Food for Millionaires was published in 2007. It was named one of the Top 10 Novels of the Year by The Times. In 2017, Lee released a novel entitled Pachinko, which is an epic historical novel following characters from Korea who eventually migrate to Japan. It is the first novel written for an adult English speaking audience about Japanese Korean culture. The book is on the “Best Fiction of 2017” lists from Esquire, Chicago Review of Books, and Amazon. Pachinko was named by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2017 and was a finalist for the National Book Award for fiction.
IN HER WORDS | “When I was growing up, I was silent. In high school, I decided to join the debate team to overcome my shyness, then after a year I took public speaking classes.”
Heather McGhee
Class of 1997 | State: Milton Academy, Ma
Heather designs and promotes solutions to inequality in America. Her first book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together spent 10 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. In the summer of 2022, The Sum of Us was adapted into a Spotify podcast by Higher Ground, the production company of Barack and Michelle Obama.
For nearly two decades, she helped build the non-partisan “think and do” tank Demos, serving four years as president. Through her regular media appearances, she elevates the concerns of working families on programs including NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Heather is the chair of the board of Color of Change, the country’s largest online racial justice organization. Heather graduated from Yale University and the University of California Berkeley School of Law, and has honorary degrees from Muhlenberg College, Niagara University and CUNY School of Public Health.
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Celeste Ng
Class of 1998 | Shaker Heights High School, Ohio
Celeste Ng is an American author. Her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, has won multiple awards, was a New York Times bestseller, Amazon’s #1 Best Book of 2014, and appeared on the Best Book of the Year lists of more than a dozen outlets. Her short story, Girls at Play, won a Pushcart Prize in 2012. Ng’s second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, tells the story of two families in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The book was an instant New York Times Bestseller and Amazon’s Best Novel of 2017.
Class of 1997 | Topeka High School, Kansas
Ben Lerner is a poet, novelist, essayist, critic and teacher. Ben is the recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright, Guggenheim, and MacArthur Foundations as well as a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Ben teaches at Brooklyn College, where he was named a Distinguished Professor of English in 2016.
Ben competed at the 1997 National Forensic League National Tournament in International Extemporaneous Speaking and won. He has also authored four books of poetry, The Lichtenberg Figures, Angle of Yaw, Mean Free Path, and The Lights and three novels, Leaving the Atocha Station, 10:04, and The Topeka School.
Links:
Class of 1986 | The Bronx High School of Science, New York
Min Jin Lee is a Korean American writer whose work frequently deals with Korean American topics. Her debut novel Free Food for Millionaires was published in 2007. It was named one of the Top 10 Novels of the Year by The Times. In 2017, Lee released a novel entitled Pachinko, which is an epic historical novel following characters from Korea who eventually migrate to Japan. It is the first novel written for an adult English speaking audience about Japanese Korean culture. The book is on the “Best Fiction of 2017” lists from Esquire, Chicago Review of Books, and Amazon. Pachinko was named by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2017 and was a finalist for the National Book Award for fiction.
IN HER WORDS | “When I was growing up, I was silent. In high school, I decided to join the debate team to overcome my shyness, then after a year I took public speaking classes.”
Class of 1997 | State: Milton Academy, Ma
Heather designs and promotes solutions to inequality in America. Her first book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together spent 10 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. In the summer of 2022, The Sum of Us was adapted into a Spotify podcast by Higher Ground, the production company of Barack and Michelle Obama.
For nearly two decades, she helped build the non-partisan “think and do” tank Demos, serving four years as president. Through her regular media appearances, she elevates the concerns of working families on programs including NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Heather is the chair of the board of Color of Change, the country’s largest online racial justice organization. Heather graduated from Yale University and the University of California Berkeley School of Law, and has honorary degrees from Muhlenberg College, Niagara University and CUNY School of Public Health.
Links:
Social Handles:
Class of 1998 | Shaker Heights High School, Ohio
Celeste Ng is an American author. Her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, has won multiple awards, was a New York Times bestseller, Amazon’s #1 Best Book of 2014, and appeared on the Best Book of the Year lists of more than a dozen outlets. Her short story, Girls at Play, won a Pushcart Prize in 2012. Ng’s second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, tells the story of two families in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The book was an instant New York Times Bestseller and Amazon’s Best Novel of 2017.
Roberto Orci
Spring Woods High School, Texas
Filmmaker Roberto Orci is a prolific writer and producer across both film and TV. Roberto is the billion dollar filmmaker behind some of the decade’s biggest films including Mission: Impossible III, Eagle Eye, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Cowboys and Aliens, and the Star Trek films. He also executive produced the hit romantic comedy The Proposal. His writing and producing credits have grossed more than $4 billion worldwide. Roberto competed in Policy Debate in high school.
IN HIS WORDS | “I learned how to think at Spring Woods debate. I learned how to speak, how to find my voice, and how to be myself. Debate teachers are more than teachers.”
Alan Sepinwall
Class of 1992 | Montville High School
Alan Sepinwall is a television reviewer, writer, and critic. He spent 14 years as a columnist with The Star-Ledger in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He then wrote for Uproxx, where he worked for two years. Since 2018, he has been the chief TV critic for Rolling Stone.
Sepinwall has interviewed such television figures as The Wire creator David Simon, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.
Sepinwall has also authored seven books, including Breaking Bad 101, The Sopranos Sessions, and Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History. He has also hosted numerous podcasts and was the 1992 New Jersey State Champion in Humorous Interpretation.
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Anthony Zuiker
Class of 1986 | Chaparral High School, Nevada
Anthony Zuiker is a television writer, television producer, and author. He is best known as the creator of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He produced all five editions of the CSI franchise: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY,CSI: Cyber and CSI: Vegas. His production company is Dare to Pass.
Besides his work on CSI, Zuiker also created the murder mystery show Whodunnit? and the web series Cybergeddon, for which he received a 2013 Pioneer Award from the International Digital Emmy Awards. Zuiker also launched his first animated series for kids, Mysteryopolis, on Nabi tablets.
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Tiffany Yu
Class of 2006 | Walt Whitman High School, Maryland
Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise to elevate disability pride, the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, and the author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World. Her TED Talk, How to Help Employees with Disabilities Thrive, has over one million views.
She serves on the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Working Group and was a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father.
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Class of 1992 | Montville High School
Alan Sepinwall is a television reviewer, writer, and critic. He spent 14 years as a columnist with The Star-Ledger in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He then wrote for Uproxx, where he worked for two years. Since 2018, he has been the chief TV critic for Rolling Stone.
Sepinwall has interviewed such television figures as The Wire creator David Simon, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.
Sepinwall has also authored seven books, including Breaking Bad 101, The Sopranos Sessions, and Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History. He has also hosted numerous podcasts and was the 1992 New Jersey State Champion in Humorous Interpretation.
Links:
Social Handles:
Spring Woods High School, Texas
Filmmaker Roberto Orci is a prolific writer and producer across both film and TV. Roberto is the billion dollar filmmaker behind some of the decade’s biggest films including Mission: Impossible III, Eagle Eye, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Cowboys and Aliens, and the Star Trek films. He also executive produced the hit romantic comedy The Proposal. His writing and producing credits have grossed more than $4 billion worldwide. Roberto competed in Policy Debate in high school.
IN HIS WORDS | “I learned how to think at Spring Woods debate. I learned how to speak, how to find my voice, and how to be myself. Debate teachers are more than teachers.”
Anthony Zuiker is a television writer, television producer, and author. He is best known as the creator of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He produced all five editions of the CSI franchise: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY,CSI: Cyber and CSI: Vegas. His production company is Dare to Pass.
Besides his work on CSI, Zuiker also created the murder mystery show Whodunnit? and the web series Cybergeddon, for which he received a 2013 Pioneer Award from the International Digital Emmy Awards. Zuiker also launched his first animated series for kids, Mysteryopolis, on Nabi tablets.
Links:
Class of 2006 | Walt Whitman High School, Maryland
Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise to elevate disability pride, the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, and the author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World. Her TED Talk, How to Help Employees with Disabilities Thrive, has over one million views.
She serves on the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Working Group and was a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father.
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Authors & Filmmakers
Aimee Allison
Antioch High School, California
Aimee Allison is a writer, democratic innovator, and visionary champion of racial and gender justice. She is the Founder and President of She the People, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to an America redefined and inspired by women of color. She is the coauthor of Army of None: Strategies to Counter Military Recruitment, End War, and Build a Better World, she has also hosted the Democracy in Color political podcast and has written for national publications including The New York Times, Essence, and Teen Vogue.
Allison holds a B.A. in History and M.A in Education from Stanford University. In the early 1990’s, Allison earned a rare honorable discharge from the U.S. Army as a conscientious objector, launching 30 years of efforts to build communities and launch campaigns grounded in love, justice, and belonging.
Aimee mentioned in an interview that, “Even at an early age, I was looking for belonging. I was a debate champ and the student body president at Antioch High School and started the [Black student union]. Those things were all part of my cultivating an intentional community.”
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Ty Burr
Ty Burr is an American film critic, columnist, and author who currently writes a film and popular culture newsletter “Ty Burr’s Watchlist” on Substack. Burr previously served as film critic at The Boston Globe from 2002 until 2021. From 1990 to 2002, he was a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he primarily covered films, video, music, and digital media. An early interest in the Internet led to his hand-coding the first EW web page and introducing and editing the magazine’s New Media section.
He also wrote a weekly Sunday column on a wide variety of pop culture subjects. His columns on breaking cultural issues frequently appeared on the paper’s front page. In 2017, Burr was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism.
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Emily Franklin
Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Emily Franklin is the bestselling author of more than twenty novels and a poetry collection, Tell Me How You Got Here. Her award-winning work has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, The Kenyon Review, Guernica, Threepenny Review, Journal of the American Medical Association, and numerous literary magazines as well as long-listed for the London Sunday Times Short Story Award, featured and read aloud on NPR and named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Zoe Marshall
Class of 2011 | State: Greenhill School, Texas
Zoe Marshall is a writer, producer, and director. Zoe has written for CW, Peacock, HBO, CBS, NBC & movies. She is currently on the WGA Board of Directors.
Follow the link to read more about her projects on IMDB.
Social Handles:
Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Emily Franklin is the bestselling author of more than twenty novels and a poetry collection, Tell Me How You Got Here. Her award-winning work has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, The Kenyon Review, Guernica, Threepenny Review, Journal of the American Medical Association, and numerous literary magazines as well as long-listed for the London Sunday Times Short Story Award, featured and read aloud on NPR and named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Class of 1976 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Ty Burr is an American film critic, columnist, and author who currently writes a film and popular culture newsletter “Ty Burr’s Watchlist” on Substack. Burr previously served as film critic at The Boston Globe from 2002 until 2021. From 1990 to 2002, he was a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he primarily covered films, video, music, and digital media. An early interest in the Internet led to his hand-coding the first EW web page and introducing and editing the magazine’s New Media section.
He also wrote a weekly Sunday column on a wide variety of pop culture subjects. His columns on breaking cultural issues frequently appeared on the paper’s front page. In 2017, Burr was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism.
Links:
Social Handles:
Antioch High School, California
Aimee Allison is a writer, democratic innovator, and visionary champion of racial and gender justice. She is the Founder and President of She the People, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to an America redefined and inspired by women of color. She is the coauthor of Army of None: Strategies to Counter Military Recruitment, End War, and Build a Better World, she has also hosted the Democracy in Color political podcast and has written for national publications including The New York Times, Essence, and Teen Vogue.
Allison holds a B.A. in History and M.A in Education from Stanford University. In the early 1990’s, Allison earned a rare honorable discharge from the U.S. Army as a conscientious objector, launching 30 years of efforts to build communities and launch campaigns grounded in love, justice, and belonging.
Aimee mentioned in an interview that, “Even at an early age, I was looking for belonging. I was a debate champ and the student body president at Antioch High School and started the [Black student union]. Those things were all part of my cultivating an intentional community.”
Links:
Social Handles:
Class of 2011 | State: Greenhill School, Texas
Zoe Marshall is a writer, producer, and director. Zoe has written for CW, Peacock, HBO, CBS, NBC & movies. She is currently on the WGA Board of Directors.
Follow the link to read more about her projects on IMDB.
Social Handles:
John Moe
Class of 1986 | Federal Way HS, Washington
John Moe is the host and creator of the award-winning podcasts Depresh Mode with John Moe and The Hilarious World of Depression. He is also the creator and host of Sleeping with Celebrities and the author of the critically-acclaimed best-selling memoir The Hilarious World of Depression as well as three other books.
He consults for and makes award-winning podcasts on behalf of organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Children’s Center, and Whitman College.
His writing has appeared in numerous humor anthologies as well as The New York Times Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Seattle Times, Reader’s Digest, and many more publications. He gives speeches around the country on mental health issues.
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Gretchen Schreiber
Class of 2007 | Emporia HS, KS
Gretchen Schreiber grew up between the hills of Kansas and the hospitals of Minnesota, but now calls the hills of Los Angeles home. After getting her MFA from USC Film School, she now works as a professional bookworm for Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s media company.
Gretchen is also the author of the YA book, Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal.
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Bryan Washington
Class of 2011 | James E. Taylor High School, Texas
Bryan Washington is a writer from Houston, Texas. His fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, BuzzFeed, Vulture, The Paris Review, Boston Review, Tin House, Bon Appétit, One Story, MUNCHIES, American Short Fiction, GQ, FADER, The Awl, Hazlitt, and Catapult, where he wrote a column called “Bayou Diaries.” His first book, Lot, was published by Riverhead Books in March 2019. His second book, Memorial, will follow from Riverhead in 2020.
Class of 1986 | Federal Way HS, Washington
John Moe is the host and creator of the award-winning podcasts Depresh Mode with John Moe and The Hilarious World of Depression. He is also the creator and host of Sleeping with Celebrities and the author of the critically-acclaimed best-selling memoir The Hilarious World of Depression as well as three other books.
He consults for and makes award-winning podcasts on behalf of organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Children’s Center, and Whitman College.
His writing has appeared in numerous humor anthologies as well as The New York Times Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Seattle Times, Reader’s Digest, and many more publications. He gives speeches around the country on mental health issues.
Links:
Social Handles:
Class of 2007 | Emporia HS, KS
Gretchen Schreiber grew up between the hills of Kansas and the hospitals of Minnesota, but now calls the hills of Los Angeles home. After getting her MFA from USC Film School, she now works as a professional bookworm for Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s media company.
Gretchen is also the author of the YA book, Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal.
Social Handles:
Bryan Washington is a writer from Houston, Texas. His fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, BuzzFeed, Vulture, The Paris Review, Boston Review, Tin House, Bon Appétit, One Story, MUNCHIES, American Short Fiction, GQ, FADER, The Awl, Hazlitt, and Catapult, where he wrote a column called “Bayou Diaries.” His first book, Lot, was published by Riverhead Books in March 2019. His second book, Memorial, will follow from Riverhead in 2020.
Business & Economics
Reuben Advani
Class of 1990 | Apple Valley High School, MN
Reuben Advani serves as CEO of The Global STEM Alliance, an initiative focused on increasing access to and improving the quality of STEM education. Advani has also authored, The Wall Street MBA and Financial Freedom and is requested as a publis speaker at corporate functions, law firms, and non-profits across the nation. He has also been featured in magazines including Investor’s Business Daily and U.S. News & World Report.
Doug Abrams
Class of 1985 | Stuyvesant HS, New York
Doug is the Founder and President of Idea Architects, a creative book and media company helping visionaries to create a wiser, healthier, and more just world. As a literary agent and editor, he has helped create 18 New York Times Bestsellers and had the privilege of working with many great thought leaders, visionary scientists, and humanitarians including Nobel Laureates Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Jody Williams, and Elizabeth Blackburn. Doug also worked closely with Desmond Tutu as his coauthor, editor, and literary agent for almost two decades. He also worked with Stephen Hawking on his last book.
He is also interested in the power of the Internet and multimedia to change culture and was on the founding team of JustGive.org, a philanthropy website that has pioneered new forms of giving and channeled over $300 million to charity.
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Roy Bahat
Class of 1994 | Stuyvesant High School, New York
Roy Bahat is a venture capitalist, educator, and activist. He is currently the head of Bloomberg Beta, the venture capital arm of Bloomberg and he teaches at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Bahat has been a venture capitalist since 2012. He was known in part for funding smaller startups where the founders still had day jobs. In 2013, Bloomberg Beta was created and Bahat was appointed head of the new entity. Bahat is also a member of the Future of Work Commission, a governmental organization focused on economic growth in California.
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Sara Blakely
Clearwater HS, Florida
Sara Treleaven Blakely is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the Founder of Spanx, an American intimate apparel company with pants and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Blakely was named in Time magazine’s “Time 100” annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2014, she was listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
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Class of 1990 | Apple Valley High School, MN
Reuben Advani serves as CEO of The Global STEM Alliance, an initiative focused on increasing access to and improving the quality of STEM education. Advani has also authored, The Wall Street MBA and Financial Freedom and is requested as a publis speaker at corporate functions, law firms, and non-profits across the nation. He has also been featured in magazines including Investor’s Business Daily and U.S. News & World Report.
Class of 1994 | Stuyvesant High School, New York
Roy Bahat is a venture capitalist, educator, and activist. He is currently the head of Bloomberg Beta, the venture capital arm of Bloomberg and he teaches at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Bahat has been a venture capitalist since 2012. He was known in part for funding smaller startups where the founders still had day jobs. In 2013, Bloomberg Beta was created and Bahat was appointed head of the new entity. Bahat is also a member of the Future of Work Commission, a governmental organization focused on economic growth in California.
Links:
Social Handles:
Class of 1985 | Stuyvesant HS, New York
Doug is the Founder and President of Idea Architects, a creative book and media company helping visionaries to create a wiser, healthier, and more just world. As a literary agent and editor, he has helped create 18 New York Times Bestsellers and had the privilege of working with many great thought leaders, visionary scientists, and humanitarians including Nobel Laureates Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Jody Williams, and Elizabeth Blackburn. Doug also worked closely with Desmond Tutu as his coauthor, editor, and literary agent for almost two decades. He also worked with Stephen Hawking on his last book.
He is also interested in the power of the Internet and multimedia to change culture and was on the founding team of JustGive.org, a philanthropy website that has pioneered new forms of giving and channeled over $300 million to charity.
Social Handles:
Clearwater HS, Florida
Sara Treleaven Blakely is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the Founder of Spanx, an American intimate apparel company with pants and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Blakely was named in Time magazine’s “Time 100” annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2014, she was listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
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Austan Goolsbee
Class of 1987 | Milton Academy, Massachusetts
Austan D. Goolsbee is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He previously served in Washington as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and a member of the President Obama’s cabinet. His research has earned him recognition as a Fulbright Scholar and an Alfred P. Sloan fellow. Goolsbee serves on the Economic Advisory Panel to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and has previously served on the Panel of Economic Advisors to the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. Census Advisory Commission and as a special consultant for Internet Policy to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. As a high school student, Goolsbee won the NSDA national championship in International Extemporaneous Speaking (IX) in 1987.
Kenneth Hersh
Class of 1981 | St. Mark’s School of Texas, Texas
Kenneth Hersh serves as CEO of The George W. Bush Presidential Center, a complex that includes former United States President George W. Bush’s presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the George W. Bush Foundation. Hersh has also authored a memoir, The Fastest Tortoise. Hersh is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Economic Forum, and is also on the boards of the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL) and the George W. Bush Foundation.
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David Hung
Class of 1994 | Thomas Jefferson High School, Virginia
David Hung has a 20+ year career in business. He began his career as a management consultant in the Los Angeles office of McKinsey and Company. In 2005 he moved to New York to work for L Brands, where he was Vice President of Operations and Commercialization Services. He has spent the last 15 years working at various consumer tech startups including Quidsi, which was acquired by Amazon in 2011. Most recently he was the CEO and co-founder of Fyt, the nation’s largest online marketplace to connect people who need help improving their health and fitness with certified personal trainers.
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Sharon Krause
Class of 1985 | Davenport West High School, IA
Sharon Krause is the owner and operator of Dalla Terra Ranch, an organically certified sheep ranch north of Earlham, IA. In 2022, Dalla Terra Ranch gifted 70 acres of the ranch to In Harmony Farm, a newly formed public not-for-profit, thus officially allowing In Harmony Farm to launch its work. Sharon is currently president and chairwoman of the In Harmony Farm board. In Harmony Farm is committed to focusing on environmental sustainability and regenerative agriculture, serving Iowans in need, and creating meaningful experiences for members of our community.
Class of 1987 | Milton Academy, Massachusetts
Austan D. Goolsbee is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He previously served in Washington as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and a member of the President Obama’s cabinet. His research has earned him recognition as a Fulbright Scholar and an Alfred P. Sloan fellow. Goolsbee serves on the Economic Advisory Panel to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and has previously served on the Panel of Economic Advisors to the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. Census Advisory Commission and as a special consultant for Internet Policy to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. As a high school student, Goolsbee won the NSDA national championship in International Extemporaneous Speaking (IX) in 1987.
Class of 1981 | St. Mark’s School of Texas, Texas
Kenneth Hersh serves as CEO of The George W. Bush Presidential Center, a complex that includes former United States President George W. Bush’s presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the George W. Bush Foundation. Hersh has also authored a memoir, The Fastest Tortoise. Hersh is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Economic Forum, and is also on the boards of the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL) and the George W. Bush Foundation.
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Class of 1985 | Davenport West High School, IA
Sharon Krause is the owner and operator of Dalla Terra Ranch, an organically certified sheep ranch north of Earlham, IA. In 2022, Dalla Terra Ranch gifted 70 acres of the ranch to In Harmony Farm, a newly formed public not-for-profit, thus officially allowing In Harmony Farm to launch its work. Sharon is currently president and chairwoman of the In Harmony Farm board. In Harmony Farm is committed to focusing on environmental sustainability and regenerative agriculture, serving Iowans in need, and creating meaningful experiences for members of our community.
Class of 1994 | Thomas Jefferson High School, Virginia
David Hung has a 20+ year career in business. He began his career as a management consultant in the Los Angeles office of McKinsey and Company. In 2005 he moved to New York to work for L Brands, where he was Vice President of Operations and Commercialization Services. He has spent the last 15 years working at various consumer tech startups including Quidsi, which was acquired by Amazon in 2011. Most recently he was the CEO and co-founder of Fyt, the nation’s largest online marketplace to connect people who need help improving their health and fitness with certified personal trainers.
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W. Walter Menninger
Topeka High School, Kansas
William Walter Menninger, known by his peers as “Dr. Walt”, is an American psychiatrist in the third generation of the Menninger family, which has run the Menninger Foundation since 1925. He served as dean of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Science and he was the CEO of the Menninger Clinic from the 1993 to 2001. During his tenure as CEO, the clinic began negotiations to move from Topeka, Kansas, to Houston, Texas, where it is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine.
He has served on several boards or committees related to prisons, police work and violence prevention. His research with Peace Corps volunteers resulted in his development of the Menninger morale curve, a schematic used to predict responses among people who are in new environments. Menninger wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column for several years; he has served as editor of Psychiatry Digest and the Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic.
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Elinor Ostrom
Class of 1951 | Beverly Hills High School, California
Elinor Ostrom was an American political economist whose work was associated with the New Institutional Economics and the resurgence of political economy. In 2009, she shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Oliver E. Williamson for her “analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.” To date, she remains the only woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. After graduating with a B.A. and Ph.D. from UCLA, Ostrom lived in Bloomington, Indiana, and served on the faculty of Indiana University, with a late-career affiliation with Arizona State University. She was Distinguished Professor at Indiana University and the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University, as well as a research professor and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity at Arizona State University in Tempe. She was a lead researcher for the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP), managed by Virginia Tech and funded by USAID.
IN HER WORDS | “Since our home in Los Angeles was located at the lower edge of Beverly Hills, my mother arranged for me to attend Beverly Hills High School. Fortunately, I was encouraged to join the debate team in my junior year of high school and participated actively in speech competitions around the state. Learning debate was an important early impact on my ways of thinking. You are taught that there are always at least two sides to public policy questions, and you have to learn a good argument for both sides as well as knowing how to critique both sides.”
James Poterba
Class of 1976 | Pennsbury High School, Pennsylvania
James Poterba is the Mitsui Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a non-profit research organization with more than 1,500 affiliated economists. He has served as president of the National Tax Association and as vice president of the American Economic Association. In 2005, he served as a member of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, and in 2014, he received the NTA’s Daniel M. Holland Medal for lifetime contributions to public finance. His research focuses on public policy and retirement security, with a particular emphasis on the role of tax incentives and Social Security. He and his partner Stephen Meagher, coached by the late Hall of Fame coach Edwin Kelly, won the 1976 Policy Debate championship; he also won the “Boys’ Extemp” championship that year.
IN HIS WORDS | “The skills that I developed in Debate and Extemp have been invaluable in my academic career. Teaching and presenting new research ideas in seminar settings both depend critically on clear, organized, and persuasive communication. Policy Debate also taught me critical thinking and research skills. I trace my interest in economics and tax policy to the national debate topics my freshman and sophomore years in high school. Those topics—federal financing of K-12 education and guaranteed annual income—remain core issues in my research field.”
Paul Prager
Class of 1976 | Syosset HS, New York
A 1980 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a member of the investment committee and a Trustee of the USNA Foundation, Paul Prager is an accomplished entrepreneur with a history of establishing and growing energy infrastructure businesses. Paul is the founder and CEO of TeraWulf, a zero-carbon cryptomining company. His career as an entrepreneur, executive, developer, and investor has spanned three decades and four continents, with success across a broad range of energy infrastructure projects. After distinguished service as an anti-submarine warfare officer, Mr. Prager began his career on Wall Street as an oil trader in the turbulent markets of the mid 80’s – developing a crucial aptitude for managing risk in dynamic conditions. He has since founded and led successful ventures in shipping, power generation, midstream gas, renewable energy, and fuels through the global holding company Beowulf Energy LLC.
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Class of 1976 | Pennsbury High School, Pennsylvania
James Poterba is the Mitsui Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a non-profit research organization with more than 1,500 affiliated economists. He has served as president of the National Tax Association and as vice president of the American Economic Association. In 2005, he served as a member of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, and in 2014, he received the NTA’s Daniel M. Holland Medal for lifetime contributions to public finance. His research focuses on public policy and retirement security, with a particular emphasis on the role of tax incentives and Social Security. He and his partner Stephen Meagher, coached by the late Hall of Fame coach Edwin Kelly, won the 1976 Policy Debate championship; he also won the “Boys’ Extemp” championship that year.
IN HIS WORDS | “The skills that I developed in Debate and Extemp have been invaluable in my academic career. Teaching and presenting new research ideas in seminar settings both depend critically on clear, organized, and persuasive communication. Policy Debate also taught me critical thinking and research skills. I trace my interest in economics and tax policy to the national debate topics my freshman and sophomore years in high school. Those topics—federal financing of K-12 education and guaranteed annual income—remain core issues in my research field.”
Topeka High School, Kansas
William Walter Menninger, known by his peers as “Dr. Walt”, is an American psychiatrist in the third generation of the Menninger family, which has run the Menninger Foundation since 1925. He served as dean of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Science and he was the CEO of the Menninger Clinic from the 1993 to 2001. During his tenure as CEO, the clinic began negotiations to move from Topeka, Kansas, to Houston, Texas, where it is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine.
He has served on several boards or committees related to prisons, police work and violence prevention. His research with Peace Corps volunteers resulted in his development of the Menninger morale curve, a schematic used to predict responses among people who are in new environments. Menninger wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column for several years; he has served as editor of Psychiatry Digest and the Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic.
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Class of 1951 | Beverly Hills High School, California
Elinor Ostrom was an American political economist whose work was associated with the New Institutional Economics and the resurgence of political economy. In 2009, she shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Oliver E. Williamson for her “analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.” To date, she remains the only woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. After graduating with a B.A. and Ph.D. from UCLA, Ostrom lived in Bloomington, Indiana, and served on the faculty of Indiana University, with a late-career affiliation with Arizona State University. She was Distinguished Professor at Indiana University and the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University, as well as a research professor and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity at Arizona State University in Tempe. She was a lead researcher for the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP), managed by Virginia Tech and funded by USAID.
IN HER WORDS | “Since our home in Los Angeles was located at the lower edge of Beverly Hills, my mother arranged for me to attend Beverly Hills High School. Fortunately, I was encouraged to join the debate team in my junior year of high school and participated actively in speech competitions around the state. Learning debate was an important early impact on my ways of thinking. You are taught that there are always at least two sides to public policy questions, and you have to learn a good argument for both sides as well as knowing how to critique both sides.”
Class of 1976 | Syosset HS, New York
A 1980 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a member of the investment committee and a Trustee of the USNA Foundation, Paul Prager is an accomplished entrepreneur with a history of establishing and growing energy infrastructure businesses. Paul is the founder and CEO of TeraWulf, a zero-carbon cryptomining company. His career as an entrepreneur, executive, developer, and investor has spanned three decades and four continents, with success across a broad range of energy infrastructure projects. After distinguished service as an anti-submarine warfare officer, Mr. Prager began his career on Wall Street as an oil trader in the turbulent markets of the mid 80’s – developing a crucial aptitude for managing risk in dynamic conditions. He has since founded and led successful ventures in shipping, power generation, midstream gas, renewable energy, and fuels through the global holding company Beowulf Energy LLC.
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Nandini Ramakrishnan
Class of 2009 | Hinsdale Central High School, Illinois
Nandini Ramakrishnan is a Global Market Strategist in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Global Market Insights Strategy Team, based in London. She co-authors the Guide to the Markets and other key Market Insights publications relating to macroeconomic and market dynamics. She provides research-driven outlooks for retail and institutional clients based in the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Nandini speaks frequently on media outlets (BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, Sky, CNN) and writes a weekly column for the Financial Times Adviser on various investment and macroeconomic topics. Nandini holds a degree in Economics from the University of Chicago and has previously worked in asset-backed debt securities structuring in the J.P. Morgan Investment Bank in the U.S. She has been named a Rising Star in We Are the City’s 2017 Investment Management category, an award sponsored by The Sunday Times, and named a 2017 Economic Analyst of the Year by Investment Week.
KristieAnne Reed
Class of 1990 | Bishop Canevin High School, Pennsylvania
KristieAnne Reed is a producer, executive, and the CEO of Bruckheimer Television. Reed has worked on a number of major franchises from the many CSI series to Netflix’s Lucifer, Disney+’s National Treasure, and CBS’ CSI:Vegas and The Amazing Race.
Before shifting to TV, Reed was Senior VP of Feature Films and worked on franchises such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Remember the Titans.
Reed was inspired to pursue her theater interests by Rita Yunker, the forensics coach at Canevin High School. Reed said, “Yunker taught me so much about speech and communication — how to lose gracefully and how to win gracefully.”
Robert Rubin
Class of 1956 | Miami Beach High School, Florida
Robert Rubin was a lawyer, former cabinet member, and retired banking executive. He served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs, eventually serving as a member of the board and co-chairman from 1990 to 1992. After his political career he served as a director and senior counselor to Citigroup. He is the founder of The Hamilton Project, an economic policy think tank that produces research and proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans. He was co-chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa.
Deena Shakir
Class of 2004 | Leland High School, California
Deena Shakir is a venture capitalist and General Partner at Lux Capital, where she invests in transformative technologies that improve lives and livelihoods.
Since joining Lux in 2019, Deena has led a number of investments, including in women’s health (Maven Clinic, Alife, Adyn), digital health infrastructure (SteadyMD, H1), health equity (Waymark), and foodtech (Shiru), and fintech (Mos and Ramp).
Deena has had diverse experiences as an aspiring anthropologist, journalist, diplomat, aid worker and technologist. This was demonstrated by her role as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of State under Secretary Clinton, where she helped launch President Obama’s first Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2010.
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Class of 2009 | Hinsdale Central High School, Illinois
Nandini Ramakrishnan is a Global Market Strategist in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Global Market Insights Strategy Team, based in London. She co-authors the Guide to the Markets and other key Market Insights publications relating to macroeconomic and market dynamics. She provides research-driven outlooks for retail and institutional clients based in the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Nandini speaks frequently on media outlets (BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, Sky, CNN) and writes a weekly column for the Financial Times Adviser on various investment and macroeconomic topics. Nandini holds a degree in Economics from the University of Chicago and has previously worked in asset-backed debt securities structuring in the J.P. Morgan Investment Bank in the U.S. She has been named a Rising Star in We Are the City’s 2017 Investment Management category, an award sponsored by The Sunday Times, and named a 2017 Economic Analyst of the Year by Investment Week.
Class of 1956 | Miami Beach High School, Florida
Robert Rubin was a lawyer, former cabinet member, and retired banking executive. He served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs, eventually serving as a member of the board and co-chairman from 1990 to 1992. After his political career he served as a director and senior counselor to Citigroup. He is the founder of The Hamilton Project, an economic policy think tank that produces research and proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans. He was co-chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa.
Class of 1990 | Bishop Canevin High School, Pennsylvania
KristieAnne Reed is a producer, executive, and the CEO of Bruckheimer Television. Reed has worked on a number of major franchises from the many CSI series to Netflix’s Lucifer, Disney+’s National Treasure, and CBS’ CSI:Vegas and The Amazing Race.
Before shifting to TV, Reed was Senior VP of Feature Films and worked on franchises such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Remember the Titans.
Reed was inspired to pursue her theater interests by Rita Yunker, the forensics coach at Canevin High School. Reed said, “Yunker taught me so much about speech and communication — how to lose gracefully and how to win gracefully.”
Class of 2004 | Leland High School, California
Deena Shakir is a venture capitalist and General Partner at Lux Capital, where she invests in transformative technologies that improve lives and livelihoods.
Since joining Lux in 2019, Deena has led a number of investments, including in women’s health (Maven Clinic, Alife, Adyn), digital health infrastructure (SteadyMD, H1), health equity (Waymark), and foodtech (Shiru), and fintech (Mos and Ramp).
Deena has had diverse experiences as an aspiring anthropologist, journalist, diplomat, aid worker and technologist. This was demonstrated by her role as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of State under Secretary Clinton, where she helped launch President Obama’s first Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2010.
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Business & Economics
Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng is an American author. Her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, has won multiple awards, was a New York Times bestseller, Amazon’s #1 Best Book of 2014, and appeared on the Best Book of the Year lists of more than a dozen outlets. Her short story, Girls at Play, won a Pushcart Prize in 2012. Ng’s second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, tells the story of two families in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The book was an instant New York Times Bestseller and Amazon’s Best Novel of 2017.
Roberto Orci
Filmmaker Roberto Orci is a prolific writer and producer across both film and TV. Roberto is the billion dollar filmmaker behind some of the decade’s biggest films including Mission: Impossible III, Eagle Eye, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Cowboys and Aliens, and the Star Trek films. He also executive produced the hit romantic comedy The Proposal. His writing and producing credits have grossed more than $4 billion worldwide. Roberto competed in Policy Debate in high school.
IN HIS WORDS | “I learned how to think at Spring Woods debate. I learned how to speak, how to find my voice, and how to be myself. Debate teachers are more than teachers.”
Bryan Washington
Bryan Washington is a writer from Houston, Texas. His fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, BuzzFeed, Vulture, The Paris Review, Boston Review, Tin House, Bon Appétit, One Story, MUNCHIES, American Short Fiction, GQ, FADER, The Awl, Hazlitt, and Catapult, where he wrote a column called “Bayou Diaries.” His first book, Lot, was published by Riverhead Books in March 2019. His second book, Memorial, will follow from Riverhead in 2020.
Jon Lovett
Class of 2000 | Syosset High School, New York
Jon Lovett is an American screenwriter, speechwriter, television producer, and podcaster. In 2005, Lovett was hired to write speeches for Hilary Clinton through her 2008 presidential campaign. When Clinton lost the 2008 Democratic primary contest, Lovett won an anonymous contest to write speeches for President Barack Obama in the White House. Lovett wrote speeches in the Obama administration for three years, including policy speeches on financial reform and don’t ask, don’t tell, as well as remarks at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. After working as a speechwriter, Lovett produced The Newsroom and co-created 1600 Penn. He is a founder of Crooked Media, hosts the podcast Lovett or Leave It, and co-hosts the podcast Pod Save America.
Community & Social Services
Anthony Barrows
Class of 1996 | Boston Latin School, Massachusetts
Anthony Barrows is a Managing Director at the behavioral economics firm ideas42 where he focuses on domestic poverty, local government, post-secondary education, and civic engagement. Anthony previously worked more than ten years in child welfare, spanning positions in direct service, supervision, training, advocacy, project management, and system improvement. Anthony holds a BA in Philosophy and Art from UMass Boston, an MFA in Printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government where he was a Gleitsman Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership. Anthony competed in both speech and debate events in high school and remembers his time fondly.
IN HIS WORDS | “Joining the debate team in high school was a lifesaver. Amid a lot of turmoil at school and at home, speech and debate gave me a safe space that was also an outlet for creativity and critical thought I may not have gotten otherwise. And now, more than 20 years after graduating high school, I still use the research and rhetorical skills I honed in my teens, and maintain connections to the network I developed. I count myself lucky to be a member of this community!”
Noah Bookbinder
Class of 1986 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Noah Bookbinder became CREW’s President in March 2015. Prior to joining CREW, he served as Director of the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs at the United States Sentencing Commission and as Chief Counsel for Criminal Justice for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.
From 1999 to 2005, Bookbinder worked as a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section. He graduated from Yale University and Stanford Law School and served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Douglas Woodlock.
David J. Cote
Class of 1997 | Bangor HS, Maine
David J. Cote is a Program Manager at Draper Laboratory, a Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government graduate, and retired US Marine Corps Officer.
David is Founder and former CEO of The Summit Project, a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving the memories of Maine’s fallen heroes. Awards recognizing David’s leadership and service include a Center for Public Leadership Fellowship from the Harvard Kennedy School, “Volunteer of the Year Award” at State Street, the Anne C. Murphy service and leadership award at Boston College, the Sea Service Leadership Association Major Megan McClung Leadership Award, the Maine Governor’s Award for Service and Volunteerism, and the Military Times “Marine of the Year” award in 2011. David became an Eagle Scout in 1997.
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Stuart Gaffney
Class of 1980 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Stuart Gaffney is an LGBTQ marriage equality and social justice activist, film and videomaker, and UCSF researcher in HIV prevention and implementation science. Stuart was a plaintiff in the historic California case for marriage equality in 2008.
He is the Co-Founder of Marriage Equality USA. MEUSA was the nation’s oldest organization dedicated to building equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community through civil marriage equality in every state and at the federal level.
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Class of 1996 | Boston Latin School, Massachusetts
Anthony Barrows is a Managing Director at the behavioral economics firm ideas42 where he focuses on domestic poverty, local government, post-secondary education, and civic engagement. Anthony previously worked more than ten years in child welfare, spanning positions in direct service, supervision, training, advocacy, project management, and system improvement. Anthony holds a BA in Philosophy and Art from UMass Boston, an MFA in Printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government where he was a Gleitsman Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership. Anthony competed in both speech and debate events in high school and remembers his time fondly.
IN HIS WORDS | “Joining the debate team in high school was a lifesaver. Amid a lot of turmoil at school and at home, speech and debate gave me a safe space that was also an outlet for creativity and critical thought I may not have gotten otherwise. And now, more than 20 years after graduating high school, I still use the research and rhetorical skills I honed in my teens, and maintain connections to the network I developed. I count myself lucky to be a member of this community!”
Class of 1997 | Bangor HS, Maine
David J. Cote is a Program Manager at Draper Laboratory, a Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government graduate, and retired US Marine Corps Officer.
David is Founder and former CEO of The Summit Project, a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving the memories of Maine’s fallen heroes. Awards recognizing David’s leadership and service include a Center for Public Leadership Fellowship from the Harvard Kennedy School, “Volunteer of the Year Award” at State Street, the Anne C. Murphy service and leadership award at Boston College, the Sea Service Leadership Association Major Megan McClung Leadership Award, the Maine Governor’s Award for Service and Volunteerism, and the Military Times “Marine of the Year” award in 2011. David became an Eagle Scout in 1997.
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Class of 1986 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Noah Bookbinder became CREW’s President in March 2015. Prior to joining CREW, he served as Director of the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs at the United States Sentencing Commission and as Chief Counsel for Criminal Justice for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.
From 1999 to 2005, Bookbinder worked as a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section. He graduated from Yale University and Stanford Law School and served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Douglas Woodlock.
Class of 1980 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Stuart Gaffney is an LGBTQ marriage equality and social justice activist, film and videomaker, and UCSF researcher in HIV prevention and implementation science. Stuart was a plaintiff in the historic California case for marriage equality in 2008.
He is the Co-Founder of Marriage Equality USA. MEUSA was the nation’s oldest organization dedicated to building equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community through civil marriage equality in every state and at the federal level.
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Paul Gravley
Class of 1999 | Grapevine HS, Texas
Paul is a nonprofit leader with decades of executive experience across the social sector. He is currently the CEO – Elect at Didlake, Inc., a nonprofit organization that creates and promotes opportunities that enrich the lives of people with disabilities. Didlake is committed to eliminating barriers, so that everyone can fully participate in all aspects of their community.
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J. Latrice Hill
Class of 1986 | Monticello High School, Mississippi
J. Latrice Hill serves as the Director of Outreach for USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Hill was selected to serve as the FSA State Public Relations and Outreach Specialist, overseeing outreach activities in 71 counties. While in Mississippi, Hill was appointed by two US Secretaries of Agriculture to serve on the National Advisory Committee for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers for three two-year terms.
She is the current Executive Chair of USDA’s Women in Agriculture employee organization. Hill has earned many awards including the Emerson Congressional Hunger Center’s Policy Leadership Award, FSA Administrator’s Team Award for Farm Bill Outreach, Woman in Agriculture Legacy Award and many others.
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Rob Radtke
Class of 1986 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Rob Radtke has over 20 years of leading not-for-profit organizations to new levels of success and impact. He is currently president of Episcopal Relief & Development, a post he assumed in July 2005. Rob is a frequent speaker and contributor to the media on a broad range of issues including the Sustainable Development Goals, the role of faith-based organizations in fighting poverty, HIV/AIDS, malaria prevention, and U.S. foreign policy.
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Cory Williams
Class of 2010 | Hattiesburg High School, Mississippi
Decorian “Cory” Williams graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2015 with a degree in Health Care Public Policy. He currently works as a fundraising consultant for non-profit organizations, where he makes strategic development recommendations and helps them build and grow their major gift and annual giving campaigns. Cory continues to work with students at his alma mater, Hattiesburg High School in Mississippi. Cory was named the William Woods Tate, Jr., National Student of the Year by the National Speech & Debate Association in 2010.
Class of 1986 | Monticello High School, Mississippi
J. Latrice Hill serves as the Director of Outreach for USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Hill was selected to serve as the FSA State Public Relations and Outreach Specialist, overseeing outreach activities in 71 counties. While in Mississippi, Hill was appointed by two US Secretaries of Agriculture to serve on the National Advisory Committee for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers for three two-year terms.
She is the current Executive Chair of USDA’s Women in Agriculture employee organization. Hill has earned many awards including the Emerson Congressional Hunger Center’s Policy Leadership Award, FSA Administrator’s Team Award for Farm Bill Outreach, Woman in Agriculture Legacy Award and many others.
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Class of 1999 | Grapevine HS, Texas
Paul is a nonprofit leader with decades of executive experience across the social sector. He is currently the CEO – Elect at Didlake, Inc., a nonprofit organization that creates and promotes opportunities that enrich the lives of people with disabilities. Didlake is committed to eliminating barriers, so that everyone can fully participate in all aspects of their community.
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Class of 1986 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Rob Radtke has over 20 years of leading not-for-profit organizations to new levels of success and impact. He is currently president of Episcopal Relief & Development, a post he assumed in July 2005. Rob is a frequent speaker and contributor to the media on a broad range of issues including the Sustainable Development Goals, the role of faith-based organizations in fighting poverty, HIV/AIDS, malaria prevention, and U.S. foreign policy.
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Class of 2010 | Hattiesburg High School, Mississippi
Decorian “Cory” Williams graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2015 with a degree in Health Care Public Policy. He currently works as a fundraising consultant for non-profit organizations, where he makes strategic development recommendations and helps them build and grow their major gift and annual giving campaigns. Cory continues to work with students at his alma mater, Hattiesburg High School in Mississippi. Cory was named the William Woods Tate, Jr., National Student of the Year by the National Speech & Debate Association in 2010.
Community & Social Services
Bertha Coombs
Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Bertha Coombs is CNBC’s senior health care reporter, covering health care services and policy, as well as financial markets and business news stories throughout the business day.
Her health care coverage over her 20 year career at CNBC has ranged from covering the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the evolution of health care technology like telehealth and AI to help doctors with patient care, and the continuing push to disrupt pharmacy models and lower drug costs, including the launch of Medicare drug price negotiations.
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Communication & News
Kristen Soltis Anderson
Class of 2002 | Cypress Creek High School, Florida
Kristen Soltis Anderson is author of The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up). She is a political analyst for ABC News and a columnist at The Washington Examiner. She is co-founder of Echelon Insights, an opinion research and data analytics firm, and she co-hosts the bipartisan polling podcast The Pollsters.
David Begnaud
Class of 2001 | Teurlings Catholic High School, LA
David Begnaud is the Lead National Correspondent for CBS This Morning and Anchor of CBS News Radio’s Reporter’s Notebook. His reporting has been featured across CBS News broadcasts and platforms including CBS This Morning, the CBS Evening News, 48 Hours, CBS Sunday Morning, as well as CBSN, CBS News’ 24/7 streaming news service.
In February 2018, Begnaud was awarded the George Polk Journalism Award for public service for his work reporting on Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria.
Bertha Coombs
Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Bertha Coombs is CNBC’s senior health care reporter, covering health care services and policy, as well as financial markets and business news stories throughout the business day.
Her health care coverage over her 20 year career at CNBC has ranged from covering the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the evolution of health care technology like telehealth and AI to help doctors with patient care, and the continuing push to disrupt pharmacy models and lower drug costs, including the launch of Medicare drug price negotiations.
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Robert Costa
Class of 2004 | Pennsbury High School, Pennsylvania
Robert Costa is a political reporter who is the chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News. Prior to joining CBS in 2022, Costa was a longtime national political reporter for The Washington Post. Previously, he was a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and the moderator and managing editor of Washington Week on PBS. He is the co-author with Bob Woodward of Peril, a # 1 New York Times bestseller on the final days of the Trump presidency.
In 2023, Costa and colleagues at CBS Sunday Morning won an Emmy Award at the 44th News and Documentary Emmy Awards. Costa was cited for his work as a contributing correspondent to the show, which won for “Outstanding Recorded News Program.”
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Class of 2002 | Cypress Creek High School, Florida
Kristen Soltis Anderson is author of The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up). She is a political analyst for ABC News and a columnist at The Washington Examiner. She is co-founder of Echelon Insights, an opinion research and data analytics firm, and she co-hosts the bipartisan polling podcast The Pollsters.
Class of 2001 | Teurlings Catholic High School, LA
David Begnaud is the Lead National Correspondent for CBS This Morning and Anchor of CBS News Radio’s Reporter’s Notebook. His reporting has been featured across CBS News broadcasts and platforms including CBS This Morning, the CBS Evening News, 48 Hours, CBS Sunday Morning, as well as CBSN, CBS News’ 24/7 streaming news service.
In February 2018, Begnaud was awarded the George Polk Journalism Award for public service for his work reporting on Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria.
Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Bertha Coombs is CNBC’s senior health care reporter, covering health care services and policy, as well as financial markets and business news stories throughout the business day.
Her health care coverage over her 20 year career at CNBC has ranged from covering the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the evolution of health care technology like telehealth and AI to help doctors with patient care, and the continuing push to disrupt pharmacy models and lower drug costs, including the launch of Medicare drug price negotiations.
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Class of 1996 | Boston Latin School, Massachusetts
Anthony Barrows is a Managing Director at the behavioral economics firm ideas42 where he focuses on domestic poverty, local government, post-secondary education, and civic engagement. Anthony previously worked more than ten years in child welfare, spanning positions in direct service, supervision, training, advocacy, project management, and system improvement. Anthony holds a BA in Philosophy and Art from UMass Boston, an MFA in Printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government where he was a Gleitsman Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership. Anthony competed in both speech and debate events in high school and remembers his time fondly.
IN HIS WORDS | “Joining the debate team in high school was a lifesaver. Amid a lot of turmoil at school and at home, speech and debate gave me a safe space that was also an outlet for creativity and critical thought I may not have gotten otherwise. And now, more than 20 years after graduating high school, I still use the research and rhetorical skills I honed in my teens, and maintain connections to the network I developed. I count myself lucky to be a member of this community!”
James Hohmann
Class of 2005 | Eastview High School, Minnesotta
James Hohmann is a Washington Post editorial writer and columnist specializing in domestic policy and politics. He is also chief commentator for The Post’s video team, offering analysis during all live coverage. And he is a Stanford University lecturer, teaching courses on campaigns and Congress. Hohmann first joined The Post in 2008 and returned to the newspaper in 2015 after six years at Politico. He previously served as a national political correspondent, authored The Daily 202 newsletter, hosted The Big Idea podcast and anchored PowerPost, a newsroom vertical focused on the intersection of politics and policy. He started his career at the San Jose Mercury News and also wrote for the Los Angeles Times and Dallas Morning News.
Hohmann contributed to the Jan. 6 coverage that earned the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service.
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Hallie Jackson
Class of 2002 | Pennsbury High School, Pennsylvania
Hallie Jackson is the Senior Washington Correspondent for NBC News, an anchor for NBC News Now, and a substitute anchor for Today, Saturday Today, Sunday Today With Willie Geist, and NBC Nightly News.
She worked at a number of news stations before joining NBC News in 2014 including the Hearst Corporation where she reported for their 26 stations from Washington D.C.
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Indira Lakshmanan
Indira A.R. Lakshmanan is a journalist and news executive based in Washington, D.C., and is currently the Ideas & Opinions Editor at U.S. News & World Report.
Indira has reported from more than 80 countries on six continents for leading U.S. newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and a wire service. She’s traveled with US presidents and secretaries of state, and interviewed and profiled global leaders, including Hillary Clinton, Hugo Chavez, and Fidel Castro. She’s been a Washington columnist for The Boston Globe, following eight years at Bloomberg News as a diplomatic correspondent and national political reporter.
Since 2015, she has guest-hosted national NPR shows including “1A,” “The Diane Rehm Show,” “Here and Now,” “On Point” and “Weekend Edition.” She has also been a special correspondent for PBS NewsHour and Politico Magazine.
Indira was a three-time PA state champion in Girls Extemp, and went to NSDA Nationals three years – in Salt Lake (1980), Kansas City (1983) and San Antonio (1984). She finished 2nd place in Girls Extemp both in 1983 and 1984. Indira also coached for several summers at the National Speech and Debate Institute at American University when she was in college.
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Tom Llamas
Class of 1997 | Belen Jesuit Prep School, Florida
Tom Llamas is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, anchor of ABC News “World News Tonight” weekend editions, and Chief National Affairs Correspondent, reporting for all ABC News programs and platforms.
IN HIS WORDS | “Speech and debate taught me at a young age how to handle serious issues and how to present them in front of an audience.”
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Class of 2005 | Eastview High School, Minnesotta
James Hohmann is a Washington Post editorial writer and columnist specializing in domestic policy and politics. He is also chief commentator for The Post’s video team, offering analysis during all live coverage. And he is a Stanford University lecturer, teaching courses on campaigns and Congress. Hohmann first joined The Post in 2008 and returned to the newspaper in 2015 after six years at Politico. He previously served as a national political correspondent, authored The Daily 202 newsletter, hosted The Big Idea podcast and anchored PowerPost, a newsroom vertical focused on the intersection of politics and policy. He started his career at the San Jose Mercury News and also wrote for the Los Angeles Times and Dallas Morning News.
Hohmann contributed to the Jan. 6 coverage that earned the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service.
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Class of 2002 | Pennsbury High School, Pennsylvania
Hallie Jackson is the Senior Washington Correspondent for NBC News, an anchor for NBC News Now, and a substitute anchor for Today, Saturday Today, Sunday Today With Willie Geist, and NBC Nightly News.
She worked at a number of news stations before joining NBC News in 2014 including the Hearst Corporation where she reported for their 26 stations from Washington D.C.
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Indira A.R. Lakshmanan is a journalist and news executive based in Washington, D.C., and is currently the Ideas & Opinions Editor at U.S. News & World Report.
Indira has reported from more than 80 countries on six continents for leading U.S. newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and a wire service. She’s traveled with US presidents and secretaries of state, and interviewed and profiled global leaders, including Hillary Clinton, Hugo Chavez, and Fidel Castro. She’s been a Washington columnist for The Boston Globe, following eight years at Bloomberg News as a diplomatic correspondent and national political reporter.
Since 2015, she has guest-hosted national NPR shows including “1A,” “The Diane Rehm Show,” “Here and Now,” “On Point” and “Weekend Edition.” She has also been a special correspondent for PBS NewsHour and Politico Magazine.
Indira was a three-time PA state champion in Girls Extemp, and went to NSDA Nationals three years – in Salt Lake (1980), Kansas City (1983) and San Antonio (1984). She finished 2nd place in Girls Extemp both in 1983 and 1984. Indira also coached for several summers at the National Speech and Debate Institute at American University when she was in college.
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Class of 1997 | Belen Jesuit Prep School, Florida
Tom Llamas is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, anchor of ABC News “World News Tonight” weekend editions, and Chief National Affairs Correspondent, reporting for all ABC News programs and platforms.
IN HIS WORDS | “Speech and debate taught me at a young age how to handle serious issues and how to present them in front of an audience.”
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Jon Lovett
Class of 2000 | Syosset High School, New York
Jon Lovett is an American screenwriter, speechwriter, television producer, and podcaster. In 2005, Lovett was hired to write speeches for Hilary Clinton through her 2008 presidential campaign. When Clinton lost the 2008 Democratic primary contest, Lovett won an anonymous contest to write speeches for President Barack Obama in the White House. Lovett wrote speeches in the Obama administration for three years, including policy speeches on financial reform and don’t ask, don’t tell, as well as remarks at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. After working as a speechwriter, Lovett produced The Newsroom and co-created 1600 Penn. He is a founder of Crooked Media, hosts the podcast Lovett or Leave It, and co-hosts the podcast Pod Save America.
Carlos Maza
Class of 2008 | Christopher Columbus High School, Florida
Carlos Maza is a video producer at Vox.com where he produces a series called Strikethrough, focusing on journalism in the age of Trump. Prior to joining Vox, he was research fellow at Media Matters, where he produced videos and led the organization’s LGBT work. He graduated from Wake Forest University in 2010.
Jane Pauley
Warren Central High School, Indiana
Jane Pauley is an American television journalist and author. She has been involved in news reporting since 1972. She is the anchor of CBS Sunday Morning and previously best known for her 13-year tenure on NBC’s Today program, followed by 12 years as co-host of Dateline NBC, and for her public acknowledgements of her struggle with bipolar disorder.
IN HER WORDS | “One of the most important decisions in my life was when the student body of Warren Central High School in Indianapolis decided I should not be a varsity cheerleader. It meant my weekends were free. For the next three years, I spent most Saturdays on the road with the largest National Forensic League chapter in the country. While the fifteen-year-old girl inside of me still mourns the lost letter sweater, the adult Jane is grateful to NFL for something much more important a—career.”
Pete Williams
Class of 1970 | Natrona County High School, Wyoming
Pete Williams is a journalist and former government official having worked as press secretary and legislative assistant to U.S> Representative Dick Cheney, and later as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.
NBC News hired Williams in March 1993 to cover news from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Supreme Court. As NBC justice correspondent, Williams interviewed United States Attorneys General John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales, and Eric Holder, as well as FBI Director Christopher Wray. Williams covered a wide range of events including the Boston Marathon bombing and the United States Capitol car attack in 2021. He has also received three national news Emmy awards and an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Wyoming.
Williams retired from NBC News on July 29, 2022
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Class of 2000 | Syosset High School, New York
Jon Lovett is an American screenwriter, speechwriter, television producer, and podcaster. In 2005, Lovett was hired to write speeches for Hilary Clinton through her 2008 presidential campaign. When Clinton lost the 2008 Democratic primary contest, Lovett won an anonymous contest to write speeches for President Barack Obama in the White House. Lovett wrote speeches in the Obama administration for three years, including policy speeches on financial reform and don’t ask, don’t tell, as well as remarks at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. After working as a speechwriter, Lovett produced The Newsroom and co-created 1600 Penn. He is a founder of Crooked Media, hosts the podcast Lovett or Leave It, and co-hosts the podcast Pod Save America.
Class of 2008 | Christopher Columbus High School, Florida
Carlos Maza is a video producer at Vox.com where he produces a series called Strikethrough, focusing on journalism in the age of Trump. Prior to joining Vox, he was research fellow at Media Matters, where he produced videos and led the organization’s LGBT work. He graduated from Wake Forest University in 2010.
Warren Central High School, Indiana
Jane Pauley is an American television journalist and author. She has been involved in news reporting since 1972. She is the anchor of CBS Sunday Morning and previously best known for her 13-year tenure on NBC’s Today program, followed by 12 years as co-host of Dateline NBC, and for her public acknowledgements of her struggle with bipolar disorder.
IN HER WORDS | “One of the most important decisions in my life was when the student body of Warren Central High School in Indianapolis decided I should not be a varsity cheerleader. It meant my weekends were free. For the next three years, I spent most Saturdays on the road with the largest National Forensic League chapter in the country. While the fifteen-year-old girl inside of me still mourns the lost letter sweater, the adult Jane is grateful to NFL for something much more important a—career.”
Class of 1970 | Natrona County High School, Wyoming
Pete Williams is a journalist and former government official having worked as press secretary and legislative assistant to U.S> Representative Dick Cheney, and later as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.
NBC News hired Williams in March 1993 to cover news from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Supreme Court. As NBC justice correspondent, Williams interviewed United States Attorneys General John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales, and Eric Holder, as well as FBI Director Christopher Wray. Williams covered a wide range of events including the Boston Marathon bombing and the United States Capitol car attack in 2021. He has also received three national news Emmy awards and an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Wyoming.
Williams retired from NBC News on July 29, 2022
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Culinary Arts
Ann Kim
Class of 1991 | Apple Valley High School, MN
Ann Kim is a James Beard award winning chef and owner of four restaurants including Pizzeria Lola, Hello Pizza, Young Joni, and Sooki & Mimi. Kim immigrated from South Korea to the United States in 1977 at the age of four and settled in Apple Valley, Minnesota with her sister, parents, and grandmother.
Kim worked as an actress for eight years before deciding to enter the restaurant business. She most recently was featured on season 7, episode 3 of Netflix’s Chef’s Table: Pizza where she shared her culinary journey and the highs and lows of getting to where she is today.
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Ouita Michel
Class of 1983
Ouita Michel is a six-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee, including nominations for Outstanding Restaurateur and Best Chef Southeast and the owner of seven restaurants including Holly Hill Inn, Wallace Station, The Midway Bakery, Windy Corner Market, Smithtown, Woodford Reserve, and Honeywood. Michel and her restaurants are regularly featured in local and national media, such as the New York Times, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Food Network, and the Cooking Channel.
Michel was also a guest judge on Bravo’s Top Chef series and wrote the cookbook, “Just a Few Miles South: Timeless Recipes from our Favorite Places” featuring 150 recipes for popular menu items from herh restaurants.
Jim Smith
Charles Henderson High School, AL
Jim Smith is the Executive Chef of the State of Alabama and Chairman of the Alabama Seafood Marketing Commission as well as owner of The Hummingbird Way Oyster Bar in Mobile, AL. As the state chef, he has placed an emphasis on using the best local ingredients and has made strides to encourage support of local farmers and Alabama fishers.
In middle and high school, Jim excelled in debate and ended up at Samford University in Birmingham on a debate scholarship, where he remained passionate about the activity.
Chef Smith is also known for his appearances on Seasons 14 and 16 of the acclaimed Bravo television cooking competition show, Top Chef.
Featured Recipe – Pickled Shrimp
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Class of 1991 | Apple Valley High School, MN
Ann Kim is a James Beard award winning chef and owner of four restaurants including Pizzeria Lola, Hello Pizza, Young Joni, and Sooki & Mimi. Kim immigrated from South Korea to the United States in 1977 at the age of four and settled in Apple Valley, Minnesota with her sister, parents, and grandmother.
Kim worked as an actress for eight years before deciding to enter the restaurant business. She most recently was featured on season 7, episode 3 of Netflix’s Chef’s Table: Pizza where she shared her culinary journey and the highs and lows of getting to where she is today.
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Charles Henderson High School, AL
Jim Smith is the Executive Chef of the State of Alabama and Chairman of the Alabama Seafood Marketing Commission as well as owner of The Hummingbird Way Oyster Bar in Mobile, AL. As the state chef, he has placed an emphasis on using the best local ingredients and has made strides to encourage support of local farmers and Alabama fishers.
In middle and high school, Jim excelled in debate and ended up at Samford University in Birmingham on a debate scholarship, where he remained passionate about the activity.
Chef Smith is also known for his appearances on Seasons 14 and 16 of the acclaimed Bravo television cooking competition show, Top Chef.
Featured Recipe – Pickled Shrimp
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Class of 1983
Ouita Michel is a six-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee, including nominations for Outstanding Restaurateur and Best Chef Southeast and the owner of seven restaurants including Holly Hill Inn, Wallace Station, The Midway Bakery, Windy Corner Market, Smithtown, Woodford Reserve, and Honeywood. Michel and her restaurants are regularly featured in local and national media, such as the New York Times, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Food Network, and the Cooking Channel.
Michel was also a guest judge on Bravo’s Top Chef series and wrote the cookbook, “Just a Few Miles South: Timeless Recipes from our Favorite Places“ featuring 150 recipes for popular menu items from herh restaurants.
Culinary Arts
Bertha Coombs
Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Bertha Coombs is CNBC’s senior health care reporter, covering health care services and policy, as well as financial markets and business news stories throughout the business day.
Her health care coverage over her 20 year career at CNBC has ranged from covering the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the evolution of health care technology like telehealth and AI to help doctors with patient care, and the continuing push to disrupt pharmacy models and lower drug costs, including the launch of Medicare drug price negotiations.
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Education
B. Douglas Bernheim
Class of 1975 | Harvard School, California
B. Douglas Bernheim is the Chair of Stanford University’s Department of Economics, where he is also the Edward Ames Edmonds Professor of Economics. He has previously served as the Director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Economics, and has held faculty positions at Princeton University and Northwestern University. His research has spanned a variety of fields, including public economics, behavioral economics, game theory, contract theory, industrial organization, political economy, and financial economics. His honors and awards include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship. He is also a Partner of Bates White, LLC, one of the nation’s premier economic consulting firms, where he serves on the Board of Directors. He has testified as an economic expert in numerous high-profile lawsuits, where his speech and debate training has come in handy. The pinnacle of his speech and debate career was winning the 1976 College Freshman National Debate Championship at Northwestern.
John Bessler
Class of 1985 | Loyola High School, Minnesota
John Bessler is an Associate Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, and of counsel to the Minneapolis law firm of Berens & Miller, P.A. He previously taught a death penalty seminar at the University of Minnesota Law School, where he is currently a visiting scholar at the Human Rights Center. Professor Bessler has written eight books, including multiple books on the subject of capital punishment. The Death Penalty as Torture: From the Dark Ages to Abolition, published in 2017, was the recipient of the Bronze Medal in the World History category of the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
David Coleman
Class of 1986 | Stuyvesant High School, New York
David Coleman is an American businessman, currently serving as the ninth president of the College Board, a non-profit organization that designed the SAT exam, SAT Subject Tests, and Advanced Placement (AP) exams. He is often described in the media as “the architect” of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
David was named to the 2013 Time 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. He has been recognized as one of Time magazine’s “11 Education Activists for 2011” and was one of the NewSchools Venture Fund Change Agents of the Year for 2012.
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Brittney Cooper
Class of 1998 | Ruston High School, LA
Brittney Cooper is a professor, writer, and public speaker. Brittney is an associate professor of women’s and gender studies and Africana studies at Rutgers University. She is co-founder of the popular Crunk Feminist Collective blog and has written three books, “Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women,” “The Crunk Femenist Collection,” and “Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower.”
Brittney has this to say about her time in speech and debate » “The debate team was the first place I fit, the first place that my loud-mouth, yet slightly introverted Black girl self, felt included, seen, and sure of myself.”
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Class of 1975 | Harvard School, California
B. Douglas Bernheim is the Chair of Stanford University’s Department of Economics, where he is also the Edward Ames Edmonds Professor of Economics. He has previously served as the Director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Economics, and has held faculty positions at Princeton University and Northwestern University. His research has spanned a variety of fields, including public economics, behavioral economics, game theory, contract theory, industrial organization, political economy, and financial economics. His honors and awards include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship. He is also a Partner of Bates White, LLC, one of the nation’s premier economic consulting firms, where he serves on the Board of Directors. He has testified as an economic expert in numerous high-profile lawsuits, where his speech and debate training has come in handy. The pinnacle of his speech and debate career was winning the 1976 College Freshman National Debate Championship at Northwestern.
Class of 1986 | Stuyvesant High School, New York
David Coleman is an American businessman, currently serving as the ninth president of the College Board, a non-profit organization that designed the SAT exam, SAT Subject Tests, and Advanced Placement (AP) exams. He is often described in the media as “the architect” of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
David was named to the 2013 Time 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. He has been recognized as one of Time magazine’s “11 Education Activists for 2011” and was one of the NewSchools Venture Fund Change Agents of the Year for 2012.
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Class of 1985 | Loyola High School, Minnesota
John Bessler is an Associate Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, and of counsel to the Minneapolis law firm of Berens & Miller, P.A. He previously taught a death penalty seminar at the University of Minnesota Law School, where he is currently a visiting scholar at the Human Rights Center. Professor Bessler has written eight books, including multiple books on the subject of capital punishment. The Death Penalty as Torture: From the Dark Ages to Abolition, published in 2017, was the recipient of the Bronze Medal in the World History category of the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Class of 1998 | Ruston High School, LA
Brittney Cooper is a professor, writer, and public speaker. Brittney is an associate professor of women’s and gender studies and Africana studies at Rutgers University. She is co-founder of the popular Crunk Feminist Collective blog and has written three books, “Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women,” “The Crunk Femenist Collection,” and “Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower.”
Brittney has this to say about her time in speech and debate » “The debate team was the first place I fit, the first place that my loud-mouth, yet slightly introverted Black girl self, felt included, seen, and sure of myself.”
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Brian Domitrovic
Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School, Pennsylvania
Brian Domitrovic is an author and professor. In 1985, Domitrovic placed second in Congressional Debate at the National Tournament. Domitrovic earned his bachelor’s degree at Columbia University, studying history and mathematics. He holds a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University, where he also did graduate work in the department of economics. Domitrovic is the Department Chair and Professor of History at Sam Houston State University. In his Forbes Magazine column “Past & Present,” he writes about how history can help illuminate the economic challenges we face today, and how very often historical sources do validate free-market economics. Domitrovic is the author of Econoclasts: The Rebels Who Sparked the Supply-Side Movement and Restored American Prosperity (2014) and co-authored JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity (2016) with White House Economic Advisor Lawrence Kudlow.
Dr. Mike Edmonds
Class of 1980 | Northwest High School, Tennessee
Dr. Mike Edmonds is the Dean of Students and Vice President of Student life at Colorado College. He also serves as Chair of the Board at Memorial Hospital of South Bend and was previously the Assistant Dean of Students at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Edmonds began his forensic career as a seventh-grader in Clarksville, Tennessee, and majored in theater and speech at the University of Mississippi. He has been elected by the Barkley KEY Society, one of the nation’s most prestigious forensic educators honor societies, as an honorary KEY coach. Dr. Edmonds competed in Interp, Congressional Debate, and Extemp and returns to judge at the National Tournament every year.
To learn more, check out this article published in the Winter 2017 issue of Rostrum magazine.
Dr. Stephanie Jenkins
Class of 1999 | Bangor High School, Maine
Dr. Stephanie Jenkins is a researcher, teacher, and activist. Dr. Jenkins is Assistant Professor in the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion at Oregon State University. She is the co-founder and former co-director of the Phronesis Lab for Engaged Ethics, as well as the current Director of the OSU Disability Network. In addition to publishing scholarly articles in moral philosophy, she is co-editing the forthcoming book, Cripping Critical Animal Studies. Nicknamed the “Professor of Phish,” Dr. Jenkins designed and teaches the “Philosophy School of Phish,” a for-credit college course that uses the rock band as a case study for exploring the Philosophy of Art and Music. The course was featured in this Billboard Magazine article. She discusses the role her debate experience plays in her pedagogical methods in this interview with Engaged Philosophy.
Dr. Jenkins grew up in Bangor, Maine. At Bangor High School, she competed in both speech and debate events. She was the 1999 Maine Lincoln-Douglas Debate champion, a two-time attendee of NFL Nationals, and the first Maine debater to qualify for and attend the Tournament of Champions. Dr. Jenkins graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University with a B.A. in Philosophy. While in college, she competed in Policy Debate and volunteered for the Urban Debate League as a member of the Barkley Forum. Dr. Jenkins received her M.A. in Philosophy and dual Ph.D. in Philosophy and Women’s Studies from the Pennsylvania State University.
IN HER WORDS | “Participating in Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate was my most significant educational experience. I use the speaking, critical thinking, organization, and research skills I learned in debate every day. Debate is where I found confidence in my intellectual voice and discovered that ideas matter.”
Brendan Kelly
Class of 1994 | Powers High School, Michigan
Brendan Kelly, Ph.D., became the third president of the Arkansas State University System on Sept. 23, 2024, after being selected by the ASU System Board of Trustees on June 5, 2024.
Dr. Kelly joined the ASU System after serving as president of the University of West Georgia since 2020. Dr. Kelly was chancellor at the University of South Carolina Upstate from 2017-2020 and was appointed as interim president of the University of South Carolina in 2019. He was vice president of university advancement and president of the UWF Foundation, Inc., at the University of West Florida in Pensacola from 2013-2017. His professorial teaching career spanned 13 years in Florida and Michigan in communication arts.
Dr. Kelly is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities board of directors and was named “One of the Most Influential Georgians” by Georgia Trend magazine and Jams Magazine.
He competed both in high school and on the Eastern Michigan University Forensics Team.
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Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School, Pennsylvania
Brian Domitrovic is an author and professor. In 1985, Domitrovic placed second in Congressional Debate at the National Tournament. Domitrovic earned his bachelor’s degree at Columbia University, studying history and mathematics. He holds a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University, where he also did graduate work in the department of economics. Domitrovic is the Department Chair and Professor of History at Sam Houston State University. In his Forbes Magazine column “Past & Present,” he writes about how history can help illuminate the economic challenges we face today, and how very often historical sources do validate free-market economics. Domitrovic is the author of Econoclasts: The Rebels Who Sparked the Supply-Side Movement and Restored American Prosperity (2014) and co-authored JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity (2016) with White House Economic Advisor Lawrence Kudlow.
Class of 1980 | Northwest High School, Tennessee
Dr. Mike Edmonds is the Dean of Students and Vice President of Student life at Colorado College. He also serves as Chair of the Board at Memorial Hospital of South Bend and was previously the Assistant Dean of Students at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Edmonds began his forensic career as a seventh-grader in Clarksville, Tennessee, and majored in theater and speech at the University of Mississippi. He has been elected by the Barkley KEY Society, one of the nation’s most prestigious forensic educators honor societies, as an honorary KEY coach. Dr. Edmonds competed in Interp, Congressional Debate, and Extemp and returns to judge at the National Tournament every year.
To learn more, check out this article published in the Winter 2017 issue of Rostrum magazine.
Class of 1999 | Bangor High School, Maine
Dr. Stephanie Jenkins is a researcher, teacher, and activist. Dr. Jenkins is Assistant Professor in the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion at Oregon State University. She is the co-founder and former co-director of the Phronesis Lab for Engaged Ethics, as well as the current Director of the OSU Disability Network. In addition to publishing scholarly articles in moral philosophy, she is co-editing the forthcoming book, Cripping Critical Animal Studies. Nicknamed the “Professor of Phish,” Dr. Jenkins designed and teaches the “Philosophy School of Phish,” a for-credit college course that uses the rock band as a case study for exploring the Philosophy of Art and Music. The course was featured in this Billboard Magazine article. She discusses the role her debate experience plays in her pedagogical methods in this interview with Engaged Philosophy.
Dr. Jenkins grew up in Bangor, Maine. At Bangor High School, she competed in both speech and debate events. She was the 1999 Maine Lincoln-Douglas Debate champion, a two-time attendee of NFL Nationals, and the first Maine debater to qualify for and attend the Tournament of Champions. Dr. Jenkins graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University with a B.A. in Philosophy. While in college, she competed in Policy Debate and volunteered for the Urban Debate League as a member of the Barkley Forum. Dr. Jenkins received her M.A. in Philosophy and dual Ph.D. in Philosophy and Women’s Studies from the Pennsylvania State University.
IN HER WORDS | “Participating in Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate was my most significant educational experience. I use the speaking, critical thinking, organization, and research skills I learned in debate every day. Debate is where I found confidence in my intellectual voice and discovered that ideas matter.”
Class of 1994 | Powers High School, Michigan
Brendan Kelly, Ph.D., became the third president of the Arkansas State University System on Sept. 23, 2024, after being selected by the ASU System Board of Trustees on June 5, 2024.
Dr. Kelly joined the ASU System after serving as president of the University of West Georgia since 2020. Dr. Kelly was chancellor at the University of South Carolina Upstate from 2017-2020 and was appointed as interim president of the University of South Carolina in 2019. He was vice president of university advancement and president of the UWF Foundation, Inc., at the University of West Florida in Pensacola from 2013-2017. His professorial teaching career spanned 13 years in Florida and Michigan in communication arts.
Dr. Kelly is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities board of directors and was named “One of the Most Influential Georgians” by Georgia Trend magazine and Jams Magazine.
He competed both in high school and on the Eastern Michigan University Forensics Team.
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Jessica Kurr
Class of 2007 | Palo Verde High School, Nevada
Jessica Kurr is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Communication Arts & Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. She also serves as an affiliate with the Penn State President’s Commission on LGBTQ Equity. She was the second editor for the volume Speech and Debate as Civic Education (Penn State Press, 2017), which received support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Communication Association. She currently researches political rhetoric, specifically how debates unfold over economic, political, and LGBTQ issues. Her work has won awards and been supported by the American Society for the History of Rhetoric, the History of Economics Society, the University of Utah, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, and the Volcker Alliance. She previously served as Director of Debate for the Penn State Speech & Debate Society, and she received her Ph.D. from Penn State, MA from Baylor University, and BSBA from the University of Pittsburgh. She competed in Policy Debate while in college and primarily competed in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and International Extemp while in high school.
Mark Lemley
Class of 1984| Parkway Central High School, Missouri
Mark Lemley is the William H. Neukom Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology. He is the author of 11 books and 218 articles, including the two-volume treatise IP and Antitrust. His works have been cited 350 times by courts, including 19 times by the United States Supreme Court, and more than 45,000 times in books and academic articles, making him the most-cited scholar in IP law and one of the ten most cited legal scholars of all time.
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Tiara Na'puti
Class of 2002 | Raymore-Peculiar High School, Missouri
Tiara Na’puti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder. She also works with the Center for Communication and Democratic Engagement (CDE), a center of the Department of Communication, that fosters community and knowledge through democratic engagement. And, she is a core faculty member in the Center for Native American & Indigenous Studies (CNAIS). She researches and publishes articles on communication and militarization issues in Oceania, and has testified at the United Nations Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) on the decolonization of Guåhan (Guam).
Tiara competed in both speech and debate events in high school in Peculiar, Missouri. She and her teammates were the Missouri Reader’s Theatre champions in 2001 and 2002. She graduated magna cum laude from Emporia State University with a B.A. in Communication and a B.A. in Spanish. While attending university, she competed in Policy Debate and also participated in Spanish language debates at the Universidad Pública de Navarra (Pamplona, Spain).
Tiara received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies with a graduate certificate in Native American & Indigenous Studies from The University of Texas at Austin. While completing her graduate degrees, she coached for the UT-Austin Policy Debate team and also coordinated a short-term grant project that fostered bilingual Policy Debate for Spanish/English speakers in Austin and Rio Grande Valley area high schools. She volunteered for the Urban Debate League and University Interscholastic League (UIL) in Texas, and served as a volunteer translator and interpreter for immigration legal services serving immigrants and refugees throughout Central Texas.
Sarah Parcak
Class of 1997 | Bangor High School, Maine
Sarah Helen Parcak is an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and remote sensing expert who has used satellite imaging to identify potential archaeological sites in Egypt, Rome, and elsewhere in the former Roman Empire. She is the associate professor of Anthropology and director of the Laboratory for Global Observation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In partnership with her husband, Greg Mumford, she directs survey and excavation projects in the Faiyum, Sinai, and Egypt’s East Delta.
Catch Parcak using her speech and debate skills in her Ted Talk.
Class of 2007 | Palo Verde High School, Nevada
Jessica Kurr is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Communication Arts & Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. She also serves as an affiliate with the Penn State President’s Commission on LGBTQ Equity. She was the second editor for the volume Speech and Debate as Civic Education (Penn State Press, 2017), which received support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Communication Association. She currently researches political rhetoric, specifically how debates unfold over economic, political, and LGBTQ issues. Her work has won awards and been supported by the American Society for the History of Rhetoric, the History of Economics Society, the University of Utah, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, and the Volcker Alliance. She previously served as Director of Debate for the Penn State Speech & Debate Society, and she received her Ph.D. from Penn State, MA from Baylor University, and BSBA from the University of Pittsburgh. She competed in Policy Debate while in college and primarily competed in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and International Extemp while in high school.
Class of 1984| Parkway Central High School, Missouri
Mark Lemley is the William H. Neukom Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology. He is the author of 11 books and 218 articles, including the two-volume treatise IP and Antitrust. His works have been cited 350 times by courts, including 19 times by the United States Supreme Court, and more than 45,000 times in books and academic articles, making him the most-cited scholar in IP law and one of the ten most cited legal scholars of all time.
Links:
Social Links:
Class of 2002 | Raymore-Peculiar High School, Missouri
Tiara Na’puti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder. She also works with the Center for Communication and Democratic Engagement (CDE), a center of the Department of Communication, that fosters community and knowledge through democratic engagement. And, she is a core faculty member in the Center for Native American & Indigenous Studies (CNAIS). She researches and publishes articles on communication and militarization issues in Oceania, and has testified at the United Nations Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) on the decolonization of Guåhan (Guam).
Tiara competed in both speech and debate events in high school in Peculiar, Missouri. She and her teammates were the Missouri Reader’s Theatre champions in 2001 and 2002. She graduated magna cum laude from Emporia State University with a B.A. in Communication and a B.A. in Spanish. While attending university, she competed in Policy Debate and also participated in Spanish language debates at the Universidad Pública de Navarra (Pamplona, Spain).
Tiara received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies with a graduate certificate in Native American & Indigenous Studies from The University of Texas at Austin. While completing her graduate degrees, she coached for the UT-Austin Policy Debate team and also coordinated a short-term grant project that fostered bilingual Policy Debate for Spanish/English speakers in Austin and Rio Grande Valley area high schools. She volunteered for the Urban Debate League and University Interscholastic League (UIL) in Texas, and served as a volunteer translator and interpreter for immigration legal services serving immigrants and refugees throughout Central Texas.
Class of 1997 | Bangor High School, Maine
Sarah Helen Parcak is an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and remote sensing expert who has used satellite imaging to identify potential archaeological sites in Egypt, Rome, and elsewhere in the former Roman Empire. She is the associate professor of Anthropology and director of the Laboratory for Global Observation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In partnership with her husband, Greg Mumford, she directs survey and excavation projects in the Faiyum, Sinai, and Egypt’s East Delta.
Catch Parcak using her speech and debate skills in her Ted Talk.
Robert Putnam
Class of 1959 | Port Clinton High School, Ohio
Robert David Putnam is an American political scientist and professor of Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. Putnam developed the influential two-level game theory that assumes international agreements will only be successfully brokered if they also result in domestic benefits. His most famous (and controversial) work, Bowling Alone, argues that the United States has undergone an unprecedented collapse in civic, social, associational, and political life (social capital) since the 1960s, with serious negative consequences. In 2010, he co-published an article in which he noted that the trend had moved the other way; he continued to advocate a push towards more social capital but he felt his famous thesis (“Americans are now bowling alone”) was no longer true. In March 2015, he published a book called Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis that looked at issues of inequality of opportunity in the U.S.
John Sexton
Class of 1959 | Brooklyn Preparatory School, New York
John Edward Sexton is a lawyer and academic. From 1961 to 1975, Sexton coached the debate team at St. Brendan’s High School, a Catholic girls’ school in Brooklyn, New York, leading the team to five national championships and numerous invitational titles. He was named to the National Speech & Debate Association Hall of Fame in 2003. Still an avid proponent of interscholastic debate, he is chairman of the board of Associated Leaders of Urban Debate (ALOUD), which seeks to bring debate activities to underserved communities in America’s urban areas. Sexton served as the 15th President of New York University, from 2002 to 2015. From 1988 to 2002, he served as Dean of the NYU School of Law, during which time NYU became one of the top five law schools in the country according to U.S. News and World Report. From 2003 to 2007, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; in 2006, he served as chair of the Federal Reserve System’s Council of Chairs.
Joe Shapiro
Class of 1999 | Beaverton High School, Oregon
Joseph Shapiro is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Yale University. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a staff member of the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics. He researches environmental and energy economics, and specifically investigates how globalization affects the environment, the potential of adaptation to climate change, and the costs and benefits of water pollution regulation like the U.S. Clean Water Act. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT, Master’s degrees from Oxford and LSE as a Marshall Scholar, and a BA from Stanford. He was named the national champion in Impromptu Speaking in 1999.
IN HIS WORDS | “I did Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Impromptu Speaking. I use skills from speech and debate practically every day in researching and writing papers, presenting work, and teaching students.”
Jordyn Zimmerman
Class of 2016 | Mentor HS, Ohio
Jordyn Zimmerman is a passionate educator and disability advocate. After being diagnosed as autistic at a young age, she did not receive access to augmentative communication until the age of 18. That arduous journey fuels her beliefs around leveraging tools and supports to drive change. She now thrives on boldly showing up and redefining what is possible in learning spaces and throughout the broader community — and has personal experience challenging the status quo, which is featured in the 2021 documentary, This Is Not About Me.
Technology enabled effective communication, and Jordyn began advocating through a series of presentations and keynotes around the world. She has played a pivotal role on several projects focused on accessibility — and her insights on autism and inclusion have been published in places such as The Boston Globe and The New York Times, as well as quotes in The 19th. Jordyn is Board Chair of the nonprofit CommunicationFIRST, an Apple Distinguished Educator, and is a two-time appointee on The United States Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
Jordyn has this to say about the impact of speech and debate in her life » “Speech and debate instilled me with a deep sense of confidence and a drive for connection. It taught me the power of sharing my story, honing in on my thoughts, thinking creatively, listening critically, and speaking in-depth about a singular topic, in a rather short period of time. Now, as a national presenter at conferences, speech and debate definitely contributes to my composure, poise, assessment of the audience, and ability to function well under pressure.”
Social:
Class of 1959 | Port Clinton High School, Ohio
Robert David Putnam is an American political scientist and professor of Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. Putnam developed the influential two-level game theory that assumes international agreements will only be successfully brokered if they also result in domestic benefits. His most famous (and controversial) work, Bowling Alone, argues that the United States has undergone an unprecedented collapse in civic, social, associational, and political life (social capital) since the 1960s, with serious negative consequences. In 2010, he co-published an article in which he noted that the trend had moved the other way; he continued to advocate a push towards more social capital but he felt his famous thesis (“Americans are now bowling alone”) was no longer true. In March 2015, he published a book called Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis that looked at issues of inequality of opportunity in the U.S.
Class of 1959 | Brooklyn Preparatory School, New York
John Edward Sexton is a lawyer and academic. From 1961 to 1975, Sexton coached the debate team at St. Brendan’s High School, a Catholic girls’ school in Brooklyn, New York, leading the team to five national championships and numerous invitational titles. He was named to the National Speech & Debate Association Hall of Fame in 2003. Still an avid proponent of interscholastic debate, he is chairman of the board of Associated Leaders of Urban Debate (ALOUD), which seeks to bring debate activities to underserved communities in America’s urban areas. Sexton served as the 15th President of New York University, from 2002 to 2015. From 1988 to 2002, he served as Dean of the NYU School of Law, during which time NYU became one of the top five law schools in the country according to U.S. News and World Report. From 2003 to 2007, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; in 2006, he served as chair of the Federal Reserve System’s Council of Chairs.
Class of 2016 | Mentor HS, Ohio
Jordyn Zimmerman is a passionate educator and disability advocate. After being diagnosed as autistic at a young age, she did not receive access to augmentative communication until the age of 18. That arduous journey fuels her beliefs around leveraging tools and supports to drive change. She now thrives on boldly showing up and redefining what is possible in learning spaces and throughout the broader community — and has personal experience challenging the status quo, which is featured in the 2021 documentary, This Is Not About Me.
Technology enabled effective communication, and Jordyn began advocating through a series of presentations and keynotes around the world. She has played a pivotal role on several projects focused on accessibility — and her insights on autism and inclusion have been published in places such as The Boston Globe and The New York Times, as well as quotes in The 19th. Jordyn is Board Chair of the nonprofit CommunicationFIRST, an Apple Distinguished Educator, and is a two-time appointee on The United States Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
Jordyn has this to say about the impact of speech and debate in her life » “Speech and debate instilled me with a deep sense of confidence and a drive for connection. It taught me the power of sharing my story, honing in on my thoughts, thinking creatively, listening critically, and speaking in-depth about a singular topic, in a rather short period of time. Now, as a national presenter at conferences, speech and debate definitely contributes to my composure, poise, assessment of the audience, and ability to function well under pressure.”
Social Handles:
Class of 1999 | Beaverton High School, Oregon
Joseph Shapiro is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Yale University. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a staff member of the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics. He researches environmental and energy economics, and specifically investigates how globalization affects the environment, the potential of adaptation to climate change, and the costs and benefits of water pollution regulation like the U.S. Clean Water Act. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT, Master’s degrees from Oxford and LSE as a Marshall Scholar, and a BA from Stanford. He was named the national champion in Impromptu Speaking in 1999.
IN HIS WORDS | “I did Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Impromptu Speaking. I use skills from speech and debate practically every day in researching and writing papers, presenting work, and teaching students.”
Education
Dr. Charles Lowenstein
Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Charles Lowenstein, M.D., is a cardiologist in Baltimore, Maryland. He also serves as director of the Division of Cardiology and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute.
Dr. Lowenstein originally went to Johns Hopkins as a cardiology fellow in 1991 after completing his medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a research fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1993, he joined the Johns Hopkins faculty and helped lead the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease until he was recruited in 2009 to become the chief of cardiology and director of the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2020 he was hired to lead the Division of Cardiology at Hopkins.
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Benjamin Olken
Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Benjamin A. Olken is an American economist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Olken is one of the directors of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, a research center specializing on the use of randomized evaluations for the purpose of studying poverty alleviation. His research focuses on the political economy of developing countries, especially regarding the role of corruption and the impact of interventions addressing corruption
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Tracy Packiam Alloway, PHD
Liberty University, VA
Tracy Packiam Alloway, PhD, is an award-winning psychologist, professor, author, and TEDx speaker. She has published 15 books and over 100 scientific articles on the brain and memory. She has also provided consultancy to the World Bank on reading in developing countries and is a sought-after speaker internationally. Her research has also been featured on BBC, Good Morning America, the Today Show, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and many others. She was also featured as an expert in the documentary The Observed Life.
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Vincent Stephens
Vicent is an experienced higher education professional specializing in strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work, including project development and change management. He is also an American Studies scholar who focuses on Post World War Two U.S. popular culture and media.
He has presented at various state and national conferences, and has had leadership roles in the Pennsylvania Association of Liaisons and Officers of Multicultural Affairs (PALOMA) and the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (PA-NAME). His writing on peer mentoring appears in The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching, and he has written about high impact educational practices in National Forensic Journal.
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Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Charles Lowenstein, M.D., is a cardiologist in Baltimore, Maryland. He also serves as director of the Division of Cardiology and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute.
Dr. Lowenstein originally went to Johns Hopkins as a cardiology fellow in 1991 after completing his medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a research fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1993, he joined the Johns Hopkins faculty and helped lead the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease until he was recruited in 2009 to become the chief of cardiology and director of the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2020 he was hired to lead the Division of Cardiology at Hopkins.
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Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Benjamin A. Olken is an American economist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Olken is one of the directors of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, a research center specializing on the use of randomized evaluations for the purpose of studying poverty alleviation. His research focuses on the political economy of developing countries, especially regarding the role of corruption and the impact of interventions addressing corruption
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Liberty University, VA
Tracy Packiam Alloway, PhD, is an award-winning psychologist, professor, author, and TEDx speaker. She has published 15 books and over 100 scientific articles on the brain and memory. She has also provided consultancy to the World Bank on reading in developing countries and is a sought-after speaker internationally. Her research has also been featured on BBC, Good Morning America, the Today Show, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and many others. She was also featured as an expert in the documentary The Observed Life.
Social Handles:
Vicent is an experienced higher education professional specializing in strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work, including project development and change management. He is also an American Studies scholar who focuses on Post World War Two U.S. popular culture and media.
He has presented at various state and national conferences, and has had leadership roles in the Pennsylvania Association of Liaisons and Officers of Multicultural Affairs (PALOMA) and the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (PA-NAME). His writing on peer mentoring appears in The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching, and he has written about high impact educational practices in National Forensic Journal.
Anand Veeravagu
Class of 2001| Grapevine High School, Texas
Dr. Anand Veeravagu is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, by courtesy, and Director of Minimally Invasive NeuroSpine Surgery at Stanford University. Dr. Veeravagu is also the Team Neurosurgeon for the San Francisco 49ers Football Team.
Dr. Veeravagu graduated from the Johns Hopkins University Biomedical Engineering program with a focus on spinal cord injury and regeneration, completed his MD at Stanford University School of Medicine, and completed his neurosurgical residency at Stanford University. In 2012, as a resident, he was appointed as a White House Fellow by the President, serving as Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel to guide Department of Defense Policy on traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and mental health treatment for the United States military.
Veeravagu has received over 30 awards for his leadership, research and promotion of healthcare access to underserved populations.
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Class of 2001| Grapevine High School, Texas
Dr. Anand Veeravagu is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, by courtesy, and Director of Minimally Invasive NeuroSpine Surgery at Stanford University. Dr. Veeravagu is also the Team Neurosurgeon for the San Francisco 49ers Football Team.
Dr. Veeravagu graduated from the Johns Hopkins University Biomedical Engineering program with a focus on spinal cord injury and regeneration, completed his MD at Stanford University School of Medicine, and completed his neurosurgical residency at Stanford University. In 2012, as a resident, he was appointed as a White House Fellow by the President, serving as Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel to guide Department of Defense Policy on traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and mental health treatment for the United States military.
Veeravagu has received over 30 awards for his leadership, research and promotion of healthcare access to underserved populations.
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Entertainment
Kalen Allen
Class of 2014 | Sumner Academy, Kansas
Kalen Allen attends Temple University and majors in theater and film. He is well-known for his “Kalen Reacts” YouTube videos critiquing online recipes. After a visit to The Ellen Degeneres Show in 2017, Kalen was hired as creator at Ellentube.
IN HIS WORDS | “The best part about competing in speech and debate was being able to tell the stories I wanted to tell. But it was the freedom of expression and creativity in performing those pieces on a competitive level that strengthened my artistry while providing discipline.”
Brian Baumgartner
Class of 1991 | The Westminster Schools, Georgia
Brian Baumgartner is an actor best known for playing Kevin Malone in the American adaptation of The Office. His television roles include Jake in Progress, Arrested Development, and Everwood. He starred alongside Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, and John Krasinski in License to Wed. In June 2007, Baumgartner won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy, for his work on The Office: The Accountants webisodes. Baumgartner placed fourth in Dramatic Interpretation at the 1991 National Tournament. Watch the performance »
Chadwick Boseman
T. L. Hanna High School, South Carolina
Chadwick Boseman is known for portraying Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), James Brown in Get on Up (2014), T’Challa/Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017). He also had roles in the television series Lincoln Heights (2008) and Persons Unknown (2010), and the films The Express (2008) and Draft Day (2014). He reprised his role as Black Panther in Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, both scheduled for release in 2018. Boseman placed eighth in Original Oratory at the 1995 National Tournament.
Benjamin Bratt
Class of 1982 | Lowell High School, CA
Benjamin Bratt is an actor and producer who is most known for playing Paco Aguilar in Blood In, Blood Out. He has also had supporting film roles in Demolition Man, Clear and Present Danger, and The River Wild. From 1995-1999, he starred as the NYPD Detective Rey Curtis on Law & Order.
In the 2000s, Bratt appeared in many films including Miss Congeniality (2000), Traffic (2000), Piñero (2001), Catwoman (2004), Trucker (2008), Despicable Me 2 (2013), Snitch (2013), and Coco (2017).
In high school, Benjamin joined the Lowell Forensic Society, one of the oldest high school speech and debate teams in the nation, founded in 1892.
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Class of 2014 | Sumner Academy, Kansas
Kalen Allen attends Temple University and majors in theater and film. He is well-known for his “Kalen Reacts” YouTube videos critiquing online recipes. After a visit to The Ellen Degeneres Show in 2017, Kalen was hired as creator at Ellentube.
IN HIS WORDS | “The best part about competing in speech and debate was being able to tell the stories I wanted to tell. But it was the freedom of expression and creativity in performing those pieces on a competitive level that strengthened my artistry while providing discipline.”
Class of 1991 | The Westminster Schools, Georgia
Brian Baumgartner is an actor best known for playing Kevin Malone in the American adaptation of The Office. His television roles include Jake in Progress, Arrested Development, and Everwood. He starred alongside Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, and John Krasinski in License to Wed. In June 2007, Baumgartner won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy, for his work on The Office: The Accountants webisodes. Baumgartner placed fourth in Dramatic Interpretation at the 1991 National Tournament. Watch the performance »
T. L. Hanna High School, South Carolina
Chadwick Boseman is known for portraying Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), James Brown in Get on Up (2014), T’Challa/Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017). He also had roles in the television series Lincoln Heights (2008) and Persons Unknown (2010), and the films The Express (2008) and Draft Day (2014). He reprised his role as Black Panther in Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, both scheduled for release in 2018. Boseman placed eighth in Original Oratory at the 1995 National Tournament.
Class of 1982 | Lowell High School, CA
Benjamin Bratt is an actor and producer who is most known for playing Paco Aguilar in Blood In, Blood Out. He has also had supporting film roles in Demolition Man, Clear and Present Danger, and The River Wild. From 1995-1999, he starred as the NYPD Detective Rey Curtis on Law & Order.
In the 2000s, Bratt appeared in many films including Miss Congeniality (2000), Traffic (2000), Piñero (2001), Catwoman (2004), Trucker (2008), Despicable Me 2 (2013), Snitch (2013), and Coco (2017).
In high school, Benjamin joined the Lowell Forensic Society, one of the oldest high school speech and debate teams in the nation, founded in 1892.
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Nancy Cartwright
Class of 1976 | Fairmont West High School, Ohio
As a Primetime Emmy and Annie Award winning actress, Nancy is best known as the voice of spiky-headed underachiever Bart Simpson, but also gives voice to Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz, Rod Flanders, Maggie Simpson, DataBase and Kearney in the town of Springfield on Fox’s 28-year-iconic hit, The Simpsons. It is the longest running scripted TV series in history—starting its 29th year in production. In her 36-year career at the microphone, Nancy has lent her voice to hundreds of other award-winning animated series, including Rugrats (Chuckie); Kim Possible (Rufus the Naked Mole Rat); Richie Rich (Gloria); Animaniacs (Mindy); The Replacements (Todd) as well as Pinky and the Brain; The Critic; God, The Devil and Bob; Mike, Lu & Og; and Chuck Jones’ final work, Timberwolf. In high school, Nancy performed Poetry and Prose and says winning Humorous Interpretation was her first claim to fame.
Jessica Chastain
Class of 1997 | Sacramento City College, CA
Jessica Chastain is an actress known for her exceptional talent and versatile performances across film, television, and theater. Chastain made her breakthrough in 2011 with her role in “The Help,” earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Since then, her notable roles in critically acclaimed films include “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Interstellar,” and “Molly’s Game.” She has earned multiple award nominations, including two Academy Award nominations and a Golden Globe win. Chastain is not only celebrated for her acting but also for her advocacy of gender equality and inclusion in Hollywood. She’s been a vocal supporter of women in the industry and has used her platform to address important social issues.
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Stephen Colbert
Class of 1982 | The Porter-Gaud School, South Carolina
Stephen Colbert is a comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014. The series became one of Comedy Central’s highest-rated series, earning Colbert an invitation to perform as featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2006. After ending The Colbert Report, he was hired in 2015 to succeed retiring David Letterman as host of The Late Show on CBS. Colbert has won nine Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Peabody Awards. Colbert was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2006 and 2012. His book, I Am America (And So Can You!), was #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2007.
Chris Colfer
Class of 2008 | Clovis East High School, California
Chris Colfer is an American Golden Globe Award winning actor, singer, and #1 New York Times Bestselling writer. He gained international recognition for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the hit television singing series Glee (2009-2015). Colfer’s portrayal of Kurt has received critical praise for which he has been the recipient of several awards, including Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards. Colfer wrote, starred in, produced, and novelized his first film, Struck by Lightning, which debuted at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. He is also a New York Times number-one bestselling author of The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, the first novel in his middle-grade reader series. Colfer competed in Dramatic Interp, Humorous Interp, and Expository.
Class of 1976 | Fairmont West High School, Ohio
As a Primetime Emmy and Annie Award winning actress, Nancy is best known as the voice of spiky-headed underachiever Bart Simpson, but also gives voice to Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz, Rod Flanders, Maggie Simpson, DataBase and Kearney in the town of Springfield on Fox’s 28-year-iconic hit, The Simpsons. It is the longest running scripted TV series in history—starting its 29th year in production. In her 36-year career at the microphone, Nancy has lent her voice to hundreds of other award-winning animated series, including Rugrats (Chuckie); Kim Possible (Rufus the Naked Mole Rat); Richie Rich (Gloria); Animaniacs (Mindy); The Replacements (Todd) as well as Pinky and the Brain; The Critic; God, The Devil and Bob; Mike, Lu & Og; and Chuck Jones’ final work, Timberwolf. In high school, Nancy performed Poetry and Prose and says winning Humorous Interpretation was her first claim to fame.
Class of 1997 | Sacramento City College, CA
Jessica Chastain is an actress known for her exceptional talent and versatile performances across film, television, and theater. Chastain made her breakthrough in 2011 with her role in “The Help,” earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Since then, her notable roles in critically acclaimed films include “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Interstellar,” and “Molly’s Game.” She has earned multiple award nominations, including two Academy Award nominations and a Golden Globe win. Chastain is not only celebrated for her acting but also for her advocacy of gender equality and inclusion in Hollywood. She’s been a vocal supporter of women in the industry and has used her platform to address important social issues.
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Class of 1982 | The Porter-Gaud School, South Carolina
Stephen Colbert is a comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014. The series became one of Comedy Central’s highest-rated series, earning Colbert an invitation to perform as featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2006. After ending The Colbert Report, he was hired in 2015 to succeed retiring David Letterman as host of The Late Show on CBS. Colbert has won nine Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Peabody Awards. Colbert was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2006 and 2012. His book, I Am America (And So Can You!), was #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2007.
Class of 2008 | Clovis East High School, California
Chris Colfer is an American Golden Globe Award winning actor, singer, and #1 New York Times Bestselling writer. He gained international recognition for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the hit television singing series Glee (2009-2015). Colfer’s portrayal of Kurt has received critical praise for which he has been the recipient of several awards, including Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards. Colfer wrote, starred in, produced, and novelized his first film, Struck by Lightning, which debuted at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. He is also a New York Times number-one bestselling author of The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, the first novel in his middle-grade reader series. Colfer competed in Dramatic Interp, Humorous Interp, and Expository.
Jim Cummings
Class of 1970 | Ursuline HS, Ohio
Jim Cummings is an American voice actor and podcaster. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as the official voice of Winnie the Pooh since 1988, Tigger since 1989, the Tasmanian Devil since 1991, and Pete since 1992. Other notable roles include Fat Cat and Monterey Jack in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1989–1990), the title character of Darkwing Duck (1991–1992), Kaa in Jungle Cubs (1996–1998) and The Jungle Book 2 (2003), Cat in CatDog (1998–2005), and Police Chief Gluteus in Ozzy & Drix (2002–2004) and Ray in The Princess and the Frog (2009).
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James Dean
Class of 1949 | Fairmount High School, Indiana
James Dean was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956). After his death, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations.
Dean placed sixth in Dramatic Interpretation at the 1949 National Tournament.
Joyce DeWitt
Class of 1967 | Speedway High School, Indiana
Joyce DeWitt is an American actress. From 1977 to 1983, Dewitt played Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three’s Company, which tells the story of Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt), Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers), and Jack Tripper (John Ritter) who all platonically live together in an apartment. The show raked in record ratings, breaking barriers at the time as the highest-rated midseason show ever broadcast on network television.
Zac Efron
Class of 2006 | Arroyo Grande High School, California
Zachary David Alexander Efron is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role in the High School Musical franchise (2006–2008). During this time, he also starred in the musical film Hairspray (2007) and the comedy film 17 Again (2009). He has since appeared in films like New Year’s Eve (2011), The Lucky One (2012), Neighbors (2014), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), and Baywatch (2017).
Class of 1949 | Fairmount High School, Indiana
James Dean was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956). After his death, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations.
Dean placed sixth in Dramatic Interpretation at the 1949 National Tournament.
Class of 1970 | Ursuline HS, Ohio
Jim Cummings is an American voice actor and podcaster. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as the official voice of Winnie the Pooh since 1988, Tigger since 1989, the Tasmanian Devil since 1991, and Pete since 1992. Other notable roles include Fat Cat and Monterey Jack in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1989–1990), the title character of Darkwing Duck (1991–1992), Kaa in Jungle Cubs (1996–1998) and The Jungle Book 2 (2003), Cat in CatDog (1998–2005), and Police Chief Gluteus in Ozzy & Drix (2002–2004) and Ray in The Princess and the Frog (2009).
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Class of 1967 | Speedway High School, Indiana
Joyce DeWitt is an American actress. From 1977 to 1983, Dewitt played Janet Wood on the ABC sitcom Three’s Company, which tells the story of Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt), Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers), and Jack Tripper (John Ritter) who all platonically live together in an apartment. The show raked in record ratings, breaking barriers at the time as the highest-rated midseason show ever broadcast on network television.
Class of 2006 | Arroyo Grande High School, California
Zachary David Alexander Efron is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role in the High School Musical franchise (2006–2008). During this time, he also starred in the musical film Hairspray (2007) and the comedy film 17 Again (2009). He has since appeared in films like New Year’s Eve (2011), The Lucky One (2012), Neighbors (2014), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), and Baywatch (2017).
Billy Eichner
Class of 1996 | Stuyvesant High School, New York
Billy Eichner is an American comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die’s Billy on the Street, a comedy game show that airs on truTV. Eichner was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Game Show Host” in 2013. He is also known for playing Craig Middlebrooks on the sitcom Parks and Recreation. Eichner currently stars in the Hulu original series Difficult People alongside Julie Klausner and is involved in the seventh season of American Horror Story, which premiered September 5, 2017. Eichner competed in speech events at Stuyvesant High School.
Nelsan Ellis
Illinois State University, Illinois
Nelsan Ellis was an American actor. He achieved critical acclaim for his portrayal of Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO television series True Blood (2008–2014), for which he won a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy, among other accolades. He also starred as Shinwell Johnson in Elementary from 2016 to 2017, and played a variety of guest roles on television.
In addition to his television work, Ellis appeared in several feature films throughout his career. He portrayed Eddie Sweat in the Disney sports drama Secretariat (2010), was Martin Luther King Jr. in Lee Daniels’s The Butler (2013), and was Bobby Byrd in the 2014 James Brown biopic Get on Up. His final acting role was in True to the Game, which was released posthumously.
Nelsan won the National Forensics Association Duo National Championship title in 1999.
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Sutton Foster
Class of 1993 | Troy High School, MI
Sutton Foster is an American actress. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and in 2011 for her performance as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, a role which she reprised in 2021 for a production in London and for which she received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Her other Broadway credits include Grease, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, Violet, The Music Man, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Once Upon a Mattress. On television, from 2015 to 2021, she starred in the TV Land comedy-drama Younger.
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Josh Gad
Class of 1999 | NSU University School, Florida
Joshua Ilan Gad is an actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for voicing Olaf in Frozen, playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, and starring as LeFou in the live-action musical film Beauty and the Beast.
Gad attended NSU University School, graduating in 1999. While there, he won the NSDA national championship in Original Oratory in 1998, and for Humorous Interpretation and Original Oratory in 1999.
IN HIS WORDS | In this video, Gad explains how speech and debate helped make his dreams come true.
Illinois State University, Illinois
Nelsan Ellis was an American actor. He achieved critical acclaim for his portrayal of Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO television series True Blood (2008–2014), for which he won a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy, among other accolades. He also starred as Shinwell Johnson in Elementary from 2016 to 2017, and played a variety of guest roles on television.
In addition to his television work, Ellis appeared in several feature films throughout his career. He portrayed Eddie Sweat in the Disney sports drama Secretariat (2010), was Martin Luther King Jr. in Lee Daniels’s The Butler (2013), and was Bobby Byrd in the 2014 James Brown biopic Get on Up. His final acting role was in True to the Game, which was released posthumously.
Nelsan won the National Forensics Association Duo National Championship title in 1999.
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Class of 1996 | Stuyvesant High School, New York
Billy Eichner is an American comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die’s Billy on the Street, a comedy game show that airs on truTV. Eichner was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Game Show Host” in 2013. He is also known for playing Craig Middlebrooks on the sitcom Parks and Recreation. Eichner currently stars in the Hulu original series Difficult People alongside Julie Klausner and is involved in the seventh season of American Horror Story, which premiered September 5, 2017. Eichner competed in speech events at Stuyvesant High School.
Class of 1999 | NSU University School, Florida
Joshua Ilan Gad is an actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for voicing Olaf in Frozen, playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, and starring as LeFou in the live-action musical film Beauty and the Beast.
Gad attended NSU University School, graduating in 1999. While there, he won the NSDA national championship in Original Oratory in 1998, and for Humorous Interpretation and Original Oratory in 1999.
IN HIS WORDS | In this video, Gad explains how speech and debate helped make his dreams come true.
Class of 1993 | Troy High School, MI
Sutton Foster is an American actress. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and in 2011 for her performance as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, a role which she reprised in 2021 for a production in London and for which she received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Her other Broadway credits include Grease, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, Violet, The Music Man, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Once Upon a Mattress. On television, from 2015 to 2021, she starred in the TV Land comedy-drama Younger.
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Ginger Gonzaga
Fred C. Beyer High School, California
Ginger is an improviser, actor, writer, and director. In television, Ginger is best known for her role as “Christy” on the Duplass Brothers’ critical darling Togetherness (2015) on HBO, “Maggie” on Showtime’s dramedy I’m Dying Up Here (2017), “Peggy” of FX’s Legit (2013), and “Lorena” on Hulu’s drama Chance (2016) opposite Hugh Laurie and Ethan Suplee. Ginger was also the lead of ABC’s Mixology (2013), and a regular on TBS’s Wrecked (2016), as well as the host of Hulu’s comedic daily pop culture recap show The Morning After (2011), for which she also wrote. Other television credits include her recurring roles on Mindy Kaling’s NBC comedy Champions (2018), Tad Quill’s Jane Lynch comedy Angel from Hell (2016) on CBS, NBC’s Trial & Error (2017), Comedy Central’s Key and Peele (2012), and Freeform’s Alone Together (2018). She was seen opposite Jim Carrey in the Michel Gondry directed Showtime series Kidding (2018).
Ginger’s film debut was in Seth MacFarlane’s popular 2012 comedy Ted (2012). She can also be seen in Demetri Martin’s comedy drama and Tribeca Film Festival Winner Dean (2016) (opposite Demetri Martin and Gillian Jacobs), as well as Henry Phillips’ Punching the Clown (2009) (opposite J.K Simmons and Jim Jefferies). She made her directorial debut with the short film Your Day (2017) starring herself and Jason Ritter, which she also wrote.
Ginger also sings and received a B.A in Political Science/International Relations and a minor in Chinese from UC Santa Barbara before training at The Groundings and Second City Theaters.
Arsenio Hall
Ohio University, Ohio
Arsenio Hall is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014.
He has appeared in Martial Law, Coming to America, Coming 2 America, and Harlem Nights. He was also the host of Star Search and appeared as Alan Thicke’s sidekick on the talk show, Thicke of the Night.
Arsenio Hall was a member of Ohio University’s forensics team.
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LaRoyce Hawkins
Class of 2006 | Thornton Township High School, IL
LaRoyce Hawkins is an actor, stand-up comedian, spoken word artist, and musician. Hawkins stars on Chicago P.D., where he portrays Officer Kevin Atwater. Hawkins also has a regular role on the crossover show Chicago Fire. He has also made appearances in various television series, including Ballers, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Underemployed, and Detroit 1-8-7.
In 2005, Hawkins won the state speech championship for original comedy. As a senior, he again placed first in the state but in humorous duet acting along with his partner, Marketta Wilder.
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Brian Tyree Henry
Class of 2000 | E E Smith High School, NC
Brian Tyree Henry is an actor who rose to prominence for his role as Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta (2016–2022), for which he received a nomination for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. On tv, he is known for his performances in Boardwalk Empire, This Is Us, and How to Get Away with Murder.
During an interview, Brian explained that his first experience in acting came about because of his friends. They were aware of his involvement in speech and debate, and they encouraged him to audition for a school play. “My friends Theo and Will were like, “We’re auditioning for this play, man, we know you used to do speech and debate, you should audition.” So I auditioned for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone—that was the play they were putting on—and I got the lead.”
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Class of 2006 | Thornton Township High School, IL
LaRoyce Hawkins is an actor, stand-up comedian, spoken word artist, and musician. Hawkins stars on Chicago P.D., where he portrays Officer Kevin Atwater. Hawkins also has a regular role on the crossover show Chicago Fire. He has also made appearances in various television series, including Ballers, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Underemployed, and Detroit 1-8-7.
In 2005, Hawkins won the state speech championship for original comedy. As a senior, he again placed first in the state but in humorous duet acting along with his partner, Marketta Wilder.
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Fred C. Beyer High School, California
Ginger is an improviser, actor, writer, and director. In television, Ginger is best known for her role as “Christy” on the Duplass Brothers’ critical darling Togetherness (2015) on HBO, “Maggie” on Showtime’s dramedy I’m Dying Up Here (2017), “Peggy” of FX’s Legit (2013), and “Lorena” on Hulu’s drama Chance (2016) opposite Hugh Laurie and Ethan Suplee. Ginger was also the lead of ABC’s Mixology (2013), and a regular on TBS’s Wrecked (2016), as well as the host of Hulu’s comedic daily pop culture recap show The Morning After (2011), for which she also wrote. Other television credits include her recurring roles on Mindy Kaling’s NBC comedy Champions (2018), Tad Quill’s Jane Lynch comedy Angel from Hell (2016) on CBS, NBC’s Trial & Error (2017), Comedy Central’s Key and Peele (2012), and Freeform’s Alone Together (2018). She was seen opposite Jim Carrey in the Michel Gondry directed Showtime series Kidding (2018).
Ginger’s film debut was in Seth MacFarlane’s popular 2012 comedy Ted (2012). She can also be seen in Demetri Martin’s comedy drama and Tribeca Film Festival Winner Dean (2016) (opposite Demetri Martin and Gillian Jacobs), as well as Henry Phillips’ Punching the Clown (2009) (opposite J.K Simmons and Jim Jefferies). She made her directorial debut with the short film Your Day (2017) starring herself and Jason Ritter, which she also wrote.
Ginger also sings and received a B.A in Political Science/International Relations and a minor in Chinese from UC Santa Barbara before training at The Groundings and Second City Theaters.
Ohio University, Ohio
Arsenio Hall is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014.
He has appeared in Martial Law, Coming to America, Coming 2 America, and Harlem Nights. He was also the host of Star Search and appeared as Alan Thicke’s sidekick on the talk show, Thicke of the Night.
Arsenio Hall was a member of Ohio University’s forensics team.
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Class of 2000 | E E Smith High School, NC
Brian Tyree Henry is an actor who rose to prominence for his role as Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta (2016–2022), for which he received a nomination for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. On tv, he is known for his performances in Boardwalk Empire, This Is Us, and How to Get Away with Murder.
During an interview, Brian explained that his first experience in acting came about because of his friends. They were aware of his involvement in speech and debate, and they encouraged him to audition for a school play. “My friends Theo and Will were like, “We’re auditioning for this play, man, we know you used to do speech and debate, you should audition.” So I auditioned for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone—that was the play they were putting on—and I got the lead.”
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Marcello Hernandez
Class of 2019 | John Carroll University, Ohio
Marcello Hernandez is a Cuban/Dominican stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who currently performs as a featured player on Saturday Night Live in New York City. Performing stand-up since he was 18 years old, Marcello has toured all over the country and has opened for headliners such as Jo Koy, Dave Chappelle, Tim Dillon, Colin Jost, and Gilbert Gottfried, among others.
The first-generation Latino comedian played for the John Carroll Men’s Soccer and graduated from John Carroll University in 2019 with a degree in Entrepreneurship & Communication, TV & Screenwriting. During his time at JCU, Hernandez dove into his dreams. He became involved in Debate, Theater, and Improv.
A proud Miami native, in 2020 Marcello became the host and creative director for @onlyindade, a Miami-based account with over 1 Million Followers through which he has interviewed top celebrities such as Pit Bull, Floyd Mayweather, Nicky Jam, Mayor Francis Suarez, & more. He has had 10+ appearances on Telemundo’s Acceso Total & NBC’s 6 in the Mix, and was selected as a Just For Laughs New Face of Comedy in 2022.
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Sarah Catherine Hook
Class of 2013 | Montgomery Academy, Alabama
Sarah Catherine Hook is an American actress and singer. Her films include The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021). On television, she is known for her role in the Netflix series First Kill (2022) and as the lead actress in the 2024 Cruel Intentions remake series on Prime Video.
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David Henry Hwang
Harvard School, California
David Henry Hwang is a playwright, screenwriter, television writer, and librettist whose stage works includes the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Kung Fu, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as the Broadway musicals Aida (co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 revival), and Disney’s Tarzan. Hwang is a Tony Award winner and three-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, and a two-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is also America’s most-produced living opera librettist, whose works have been honored with two Grammy Awards, and he co-wrote the Gold Record Solo with the late pop star Prince. Hwang is currently a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair. His screenplays include Possession, M. Butterfly, and Golden Gate. Hwang was a Residency One Playwright at Signature Theatre, which produced a season of his plays, and M. Butterfly was recently revived on Broadway. His opera An American Soldier, with composer Huang Ruo, will premiere in June 2018 at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Recent honors include 2011 PEN/Laura Pels Award for a Master American Dramatist, the 2012 Inge Award, the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright “Mimi” Award, a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, and a 2015 Ford Foundation “Art of Change” Award. He serves on the Board of the Lark Play Development Center, as Head of Playwriting at Columbia University School of the Arts, and as Chair of the American Theatre Wing.
Chuck Huber
Class of 1989 | Trinity High School, TX
Chuck Huber is a voice actor who has provided numerous voices for Japanese anime series and video games. He is best known for his roles as Hiei in Yu Yu Hakusho, Dr. Franken Stein in Soul Eater, Pilaf in Dragon Ball, Shou Tucker in Fullmetal Alchemist, Android #17 in Dragon Ball Z, and Turner Grey in Ace Attorney.
Huber has also been a TV, film and stage actor for over 20 years, most notably at Chicago’s Steppenwolf and Goodman Theaters; as the Director/Writer of Arbor Day – The Musical; as a producer, co-writer and co-star of the bilingual feature Fragility of Seconds, which took the top prize at the Houston International Film Festival; and in guest starring roles on NBC, FOX, CBS dramas.
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Class of 2019 | John Carroll University, Ohio
Marcello Hernandez is a Cuban/Dominican stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who currently performs as a featured player on Saturday Night Live in New York City. Performing stand-up since he was 18 years old, Marcello has toured all over the country and has opened for headliners such as Jo Koy, Dave Chappelle, Tim Dillon, Colin Jost, and Gilbert Gottfried, among others.
The first-generation Latino comedian played for the John Carroll Men’s Soccer and graduated from John Carroll University in 2019 with a degree in Entrepreneurship & Communication, TV & Screenwriting. During his time at JCU, Hernandez dove into his dreams. He became involved in Debate, Theater, and Improv.
A proud Miami native, in 2020 Marcello became the host and creative director for @onlyindade, a Miami-based account with over 1 Million Followers through which he has interviewed top celebrities such as Pit Bull, Floyd Mayweather, Nicky Jam, Mayor Francis Suarez, & more. He has had 10+ appearances on Telemundo’s Acceso Total & NBC’s 6 in the Mix, and was selected as a Just For Laughs New Face of Comedy in 2022.
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Harvard School, California
David Henry Hwang is a playwright, screenwriter, television writer, and librettist whose stage works includes the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Kung Fu, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as the Broadway musicals Aida (co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 revival), and Disney’s Tarzan. Hwang is a Tony Award winner and three-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, and a two-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is also America’s most-produced living opera librettist, whose works have been honored with two Grammy Awards, and he co-wrote the Gold Record Solo with the late pop star Prince. Hwang is currently a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair. His screenplays include Possession, M. Butterfly, and Golden Gate. Hwang was a Residency One Playwright at Signature Theatre, which produced a season of his plays, and M. Butterfly was recently revived on Broadway. His opera An American Soldier, with composer Huang Ruo, will premiere in June 2018 at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Recent honors include 2011 PEN/Laura Pels Award for a Master American Dramatist, the 2012 Inge Award, the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright “Mimi” Award, a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, and a 2015 Ford Foundation “Art of Change” Award. He serves on the Board of the Lark Play Development Center, as Head of Playwriting at Columbia University School of the Arts, and as Chair of the American Theatre Wing.
Class of 2013 | Montgomery Academy, Alabama
Sarah Catherine Hook is an American actress and singer. Her films include The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021). On television, she is known for her role in the Netflix series First Kill (2022) and as the lead actress in the 2024 Cruel Intentions remake series on Prime Video.
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Class of 1989 | Trinity High School, TX
Chuck Huber is a voice actor who has provided numerous voices for Japanese anime series and video games. He is best known for his roles as Hiei in Yu Yu Hakusho, Dr. Franken Stein in Soul Eater, Pilaf in Dragon Ball, Shou Tucker in Fullmetal Alchemist, Android #17 in Dragon Ball Z, and Turner Grey in Ace Attorney.
Huber has also been a TV, film and stage actor for over 20 years, most notably at Chicago’s Steppenwolf and Goodman Theaters; as the Director/Writer of Arbor Day – The Musical; as a producer, co-writer and co-star of the bilingual feature Fragility of Seconds, which took the top prize at the Houston International Film Festival; and in guest starring roles on NBC, FOX, CBS dramas.
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Cherry Jones
Henry County High School, Tennessee
Cherry Jones is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the 1995 revival of The Heiress and for the 2005 original production of Doubt. She won the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Allison Taylor on the FOX television series 24. She has also won three Drama Desk Awards. Cherry Jones became the first out lesbian to win a Tony Award when she was chosen as Best Actress in 1995. She was a national runner up in Dramatic Interpretation at the National Tournament. Cherry Jones was coached by legendary Hall of Fame coach Ruby Krider, who helped her get into the acting program at Carnegie Melon University.
Colin Jost
Class of 2000 | Regis High School, NY
Colin Jost has been a staff writer on Saturday Night Live since 2005 and co-anchor of Weekend Update since 2014. He has also been a co-head writer for the show from 2012-2015 and 2017 – 2022.
Jost participated in Duo Interpretation during high school and had this to say in an interview with NPR, “It was so fun to be on the road with your friends, be away from home, have your full freedom and go and do something that was creatively rewarding like that, it was like a miracle. It was so fun to do. And, you know, it made me feel good. It gave me a lot of self-esteem because, again, it was such a struggle early on in my life that I’ve really liked the challenge of trying to get better at it.”
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KOA
KOA, the artist formerly known as Daniel Beaty, is a visionary actor, singer, writer, and social entrepreneur who lives at the intersection of art, spirit, and social change. Raised in Dayton, Ohio, KOA grew up the child of a heroin addicted, incarcerated father, and younger sibling to a brother addicted to crack cocaine. KOA learned early on that the arts can help heal childhood trauma, transform pain into power, and inspire a new generation of change makers to dismantle the systemic racism and oppression at the core of the challenges KOA, his father, brother, and so many Americans face.
KOA has spent his life telling stories that share both the truth of who we are as people and his hope for a better world. He believes these stories have the power to move us and inspire us, as individuals and as a society, to transform ourselves and the world: to confront our pain, imagine a better world, and work together to achieve it. KOA has developed an awarding winning body of work that includes his plays Through the Night, Emergency, Mr. Joy, and The Tallest Tree in the Forest – Paul Robeson. These works have been performed at venues ranging from maximum security prisons to The Public Theater, Lincoln Center and White House. He has garnered numerous awards including an Obie award for writing and performance and five NAACP Theater Awards. A highly requested performer and keynote speaker, KOA has worked throughout the U.S., Europe, and Africa. In these turbulent times of social change facing the nation, KOA has continued to develop work that confronts, heals and nurtures us all.
David Lindsay-Abaire
Class of 1986 |Milton Academy, Massachusetts
David Lindsay-Abaire is a playwright, screenwriter, and lyricist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole, which also earned several Tony Award nominations. Lindsay-Abaire won both the 2023 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical and Tony Award for Best Original Score for the musical adaptation of his play Kimberly Akimbo.
David also wrote the book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical, which was nominated for eight Tonys, four Oliviers, a Grammy, and earned David the Ed Kleban Award as America’s most promising musical-theatre lyricist. David’s other plays include Ripcord, Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World and A Devil Inside, among others. In addition to his work in theatre, David’s screen credits include his film adaptation of Rabbit Hole, Dreamworks’ Rise of the Guardians, and Family Fang.
David is also currently the Co-Director of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard.
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Henry County High School, Tennessee
Cherry Jones is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the 1995 revival of The Heiress and for the 2005 original production of Doubt. She won the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Allison Taylor on the FOX television series 24. She has also won three Drama Desk Awards. Cherry Jones became the first out lesbian to win a Tony Award when she was chosen as Best Actress in 1995. She was a national runner up in Dramatic Interpretation at the National Tournament. Cherry Jones was coached by legendary Hall of Fame coach Ruby Krider, who helped her get into the acting program at Carnegie Melon University.
Class of 2000 | Regis High School, NY
Colin Jost has been a staff writer on Saturday Night Live since 2005 and co-anchor of Weekend Update since 2014. He has also been a co-head writer for the show from 2012-2015 and 2017 – 2022.
Jost participated in Duo Interpretation during high school and had this to say in an interview with NPR, “It was so fun to be on the road with your friends, be away from home, have your full freedom and go and do something that was creatively rewarding like that, it was like a miracle. It was so fun to do. And, you know, it made me feel good. It gave me a lot of self-esteem because, again, it was such a struggle early on in my life that I’ve really liked the challenge of trying to get better at it.”
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KOA, the artist formerly known as Daniel Beaty, is a visionary actor, singer, writer, and social entrepreneur who lives at the intersection of art, spirit, and social change. Raised in Dayton, Ohio, KOA grew up the child of a heroin addicted, incarcerated father, and younger sibling to a brother addicted to crack cocaine. KOA learned early on that the arts can help heal childhood trauma, transform pain into power, and inspire a new generation of change makers to dismantle the systemic racism and oppression at the core of the challenges KOA, his father, brother, and so many Americans face.
KOA has spent his life telling stories that share both the truth of who we are as people and his hope for a better world. He believes these stories have the power to move us and inspire us, as individuals and as a society, to transform ourselves and the world: to confront our pain, imagine a better world, and work together to achieve it. KOA has developed an awarding winning body of work that includes his plays Through the Night, Emergency, Mr. Joy, and The Tallest Tree in the Forest – Paul Robeson. These works have been performed at venues ranging from maximum security prisons to The Public Theater, Lincoln Center and White House. He has garnered numerous awards including an Obie award for writing and performance and five NAACP Theater Awards. A highly requested performer and keynote speaker, KOA has worked throughout the U.S., Europe, and Africa. In these turbulent times of social change facing the nation, KOA has continued to develop work that confronts, heals and nurtures us all.
Class of 1986 |Milton Academy, Massachusetts
David Lindsay-Abaire is a playwright, screenwriter, and lyricist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole, which also earned several Tony Award nominations. Lindsay-Abaire won both the 2023 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical and Tony Award for Best Original Score for the musical adaptation of his play Kimberly Akimbo.
David also wrote the book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical, which was nominated for eight Tonys, four Oliviers, a Grammy, and earned David the Ed Kleban Award as America’s most promising musical-theatre lyricist. David’s other plays include Ripcord, Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World and A Devil Inside, among others. In addition to his work in theatre, David’s screen credits include his film adaptation of Rabbit Hole, Dreamworks’ Rise of the Guardians, and Family Fang.
David is also currently the Co-Director of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard.
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John Lithgow
Class of 1963 | Princeton High School, NJ
John Lithgow is an actor best known for starring as Dick Solomon in the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He also acted as Arthur Mitchell in the drama Dexter, Winston Churchill in the Netflix series The Crown. He also starred in HBO’s Perry Mason and FX’s The Old Man.
He has been the recipient of numerous accolades including six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Tony Awards. He has received nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards.
In his memoir, Drama: An Actor’s Education, he wrote, “In tenth grade, the following year, I dusted off Twelfth Night once again. I performed it as a monologue in the category of “Humorous Declamation,” for Buchtel High’s National Forensic League team. On Saturday’s I would travel with a busload of brainy debaters to tournaments held in empty high schools all over north-central Ohio. The others would debate and I would perform, competing with teams from all over the region.”
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Shelley Long
Class of 1967 | South Side High School, Indiana
Shelley Long is an actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers. She received five Emmy nominations for the role, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as two Golden Globe Awards for the role. Long reprised her role as Diane Chambers in four episodes of the spinoff Frasier, for which she received an additional guest star Emmy nomination. In 2009, she began playing a recurring role as DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family. Shelley Long was a national champion in Original Oratory.
Brian McBride
Westbury High School, TX
Brian McBride was a musician best known as one half of the duo Stars of the Lid. He also released two solo albums, When The Detail Lost Its Freedom and The Effective Disconnect. Both McBride and band mate Wiltzie were stunned to see Stars of the Lid audiences grow, both in size and diversity, in the 2000s. Many of their records are now recognized as some of the best ambient albums of all time.
McBride was also an active member of the policy debate community, directing the University of Texas National Institute of Forensics’ high school debate camp. He also coached Northwestern University to win three NDTs, the University of Redlands to reach the NDT quarterfinals twice, and the University of Southern California to various wins for more than a decade.
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Idina Menzel
Syosset High School, New York
Idina Menzel rose to prominence when she originated the role of Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent. Her performance earned her a Tony Award nomination in 1996. She reprised the role in the musical’s 2005 film adaptation. In 2003, Menzel originated the role of Elphaba in the Broadway musical Wicked, a performance for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Menzel returned to Broadway as Elizabeth Vaughan in the 2014 musical If/Then, which earned her a third Tony Award nomination. Additionally, Menzel is known for being the voice of Queen Elsa in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ hit 2013 musical film Frozen, in which she sang the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning song “Let It Go.” The song reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Menzel the first Tony Award-winning actress to reach the top 10.
Class of 1963 | Princeton High School, NJ
John Lithgow is an actor best known for starring as Dick Solomon in the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He also acted as Arthur Mitchell in the drama Dexter, Winston Churchill in the Netflix series The Crown. He also starred in HBO’s Perry Mason and FX’s The Old Man.
He has been the recipient of numerous accolades including six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Tony Awards. He has received nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards.
In his memoir, Drama: An Actor’s Education, he wrote, “In tenth grade, the following year, I dusted off Twelfth Night once again. I performed it as a monologue in the category of “Humorous Declamation,” for Buchtel High’s National Forensic League team. On Saturday’s I would travel with a busload of brainy debaters to tournaments held in empty high schools all over north-central Ohio. The others would debate and I would perform, competing with teams from all over the region.”
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Westbury High School, TX
Brian McBride was a musician best known as one half of the duo Stars of the Lid. He also released two solo albums, When The Detail Lost Its Freedom and The Effective Disconnect. Both McBride and band mate Wiltzie were stunned to see Stars of the Lid audiences grow, both in size and diversity, in the 2000s. Many of their records are now recognized as some of the best ambient albums of all time.
McBride was also an active member of the policy debate community, directing the University of Texas National Institute of Forensics’ high school debate camp. He also coached Northwestern University to win three NDTs, the University of Redlands to reach the NDT quarterfinals twice, and the University of Southern California to various wins for more than a decade.
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Class of 1967 | South Side High School, Indiana
Shelley Long is an actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers. She received five Emmy nominations for the role, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as two Golden Globe Awards for the role. Long reprised her role as Diane Chambers in four episodes of the spinoff Frasier, for which she received an additional guest star Emmy nomination. In 2009, she began playing a recurring role as DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family. Shelley Long was a national champion in Original Oratory.
Syosset High School, New York
Idina Menzel rose to prominence when she originated the role of Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent. Her performance earned her a Tony Award nomination in 1996. She reprised the role in the musical’s 2005 film adaptation. In 2003, Menzel originated the role of Elphaba in the Broadway musical Wicked, a performance for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Menzel returned to Broadway as Elizabeth Vaughan in the 2014 musical If/Then, which earned her a third Tony Award nomination. Additionally, Menzel is known for being the voice of Queen Elsa in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ hit 2013 musical film Frozen, in which she sang the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning song “Let It Go.” The song reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Menzel the first Tony Award-winning actress to reach the top 10.
Hasan Minhaj
Class of 2003 | Davis Senior High School, California
Hasan Minhaj is a comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Minhaj’s Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj won an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, two Webby Awards and was cited for his inclusion on Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. Minhaj also holds a recurring role in The Morning Show, guest hosts The Daily Show, and hosted the 38th Independent Spirit Awards.
Minhaj says this about his experience in speech and debate, “I had been doing speech and debate in forensics in high school. My event was impromptu and impromptu is really hard. It was one of the things that prime’s you the most for stand-up comedy. I didn’t know these were the seeds for what you need to do as a comedian so by the time I got to college and I started to see stand-up comedy for the first time I thought to myself, “Oh, this is speech and debate…but funny.”
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Jared Padalecki
Class of 2000 | James Madison High School, TX
Jared Padalecki is an actor best known for his TV roles in Supernatural and Walker. He grew up in Texas and rose to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in films such as New York Minute, House of Wax, and Friday the 13th.
Padalecki and his partner were national champions in Duo Interpretation at the 1998 National Tournament. Check out his performance »
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Jordan Peele
Class of 1997 | The Calhoun School, New York
Jordan Peele is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. Peele appeared for five seasons as a cast member on Mad TV, and starred with Keegan-Michael Key in the Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele. In 2014, he had a recurring role in the first season of the FX anthology series Fargo, based on the 1996 film of the same name. Peele’s 2017 directorial debut, the film Get Out, earned critical acclaim and was a box office success. He received numerous accolades including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay along with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
Kal Penn
Class of 1995 | Freehold Township High School, New Jersey
Kalpen Suresh Modi is an American actor, comedian, producer, and former civil servant best known by his stage name Kal Penn. As an actor, he is known for his role portraying Lawrence Kutner on the television program House as well as the character Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the critically acclaimed film The Namesake. Penn has taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.
In April 2009, Penn joined the Obama administration as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement.Penn resigned his post as Barack Obama’s Associate Director of Public Engagement on June 1, 2010, for a brief return to his acting career. He filmed the third installment of the Harold & Kumar series and subsequently returned to the White House Office of Public Engagement as an Associate Director. In July 2011, he again left the White House to accept a role in the hit television series How I Met Your Mother. Currently, he stars in the role of Seth Wright in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor and serves as the current host of the new game show Superhuman.
Class of 2003 | Davis Senior High School, California
Hasan Minhaj is a comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Minhaj’s Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj won an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, two Webby Awards and was cited for his inclusion on Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. Minhaj also holds a recurring role in The Morning Show, guest hosts The Daily Show, and hosted the 38th Independent Spirit Awards.
Minhaj says this about his experience in speech and debate, “I had been doing speech and debate in forensics in high school. My event was impromptu and impromptu is really hard. It was one of the things that prime’s you the most for stand-up comedy. I didn’t know these were the seeds for what you need to do as a comedian so by the time I got to college and I started to see stand-up comedy for the first time I thought to myself, “Oh, this is speech and debate…but funny.”
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Class of 2000 | James Madison High School, TX
Jared Padalecki is an actor best known for his TV roles in Supernatural and Walker. He grew up in Texas and rose to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in films such as New York Minute, House of Wax, and Friday the 13th.
Padalecki and his partner were national champions in Duo Interpretation at the 1998 National Tournament. Check out his performance »
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Class of 1997 | The Calhoun School, New York
Jordan Peele is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. Peele appeared for five seasons as a cast member on Mad TV, and starred with Keegan-Michael Key in the Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele. In 2014, he had a recurring role in the first season of the FX anthology series Fargo, based on the 1996 film of the same name. Peele’s 2017 directorial debut, the film Get Out, earned critical acclaim and was a box office success. He received numerous accolades including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay along with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
Class of 1995 | Freehold Township High School, New Jersey
Kalpen Suresh Modi is an American actor, comedian, producer, and former civil servant best known by his stage name Kal Penn. As an actor, he is known for his role portraying Lawrence Kutner on the television program House as well as the character Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the critically acclaimed film The Namesake. Penn has taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.
In April 2009, Penn joined the Obama administration as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement.Penn resigned his post as Barack Obama’s Associate Director of Public Engagement on June 1, 2010, for a brief return to his acting career. He filmed the third installment of the Harold & Kumar series and subsequently returned to the White House Office of Public Engagement as an Associate Director. In July 2011, he again left the White House to accept a role in the hit television series How I Met Your Mother. Currently, he stars in the role of Seth Wright in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor and serves as the current host of the new game show Superhuman.
Brad Pitt
Class of 1982 | Kickapoo High School, Missouri
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and producer. He has received multiple awards and nominations including an Academy Award as producer under his own company Plan B Entertainment. Pitt is best known for his performances in Fight Club, Ocean’s Eleven, Troy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and The Big Short.
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez
Class of 2009 | Arts High School, New Jersey
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez is an American actress and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Rodriguez attended several performing arts schools in her youth before being cast in a theater production of Rent as Angel Dumott Schunard, winning the 2011 Clive Barnes Award for her performance.
From 2012 to 2016, Rodriguez began to work on stage again and appeared in small television roles, including Nurse Jackie, The Carrie Diaries, and Luke Cage.
In 2017, Rodriguez was cast as one of the lead roles in the FX television series Pose, making her part of the largest cast of transgender actresses to be starring as series regulars in a scripted series. In 2021, she became the first transgender woman to earn an Emmy Award nomination in a major acting category; she was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in the third and final season of Pose and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama.
Michaela is also known for her lead roles in American Horror Story: Delicate and Loot.
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Paul Rudd
Class of 1987 | Shawnee Mission West High School, Kansas
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his starring roles in the films The Cider House Rules (1999) and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), the comedy films Clueless (1995), Wet Hot American Summer(2001), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), The 40-Year-Old Virgin
(2005), Knocked Up (2007), Role Models (2008), I Love You, Man (2009), Dinner for Schmucks (2010), Our Idiot Brother (2011), Wanderlust (2012), This Is 40 (2012), and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), and for playing the superhero Ant-Man in Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man (2015) and Captain America: Civil War (2016).
Heidi Schreck
Class of 1989 | Wenatchee High School, WA
Heidi Schreck is a playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Her play, “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which she also performs in, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Awards for 2019 Best Play and Best Actress in a Play. Heidi’s play is partially autobiographical, relating her real-life experience in participating in speech and debate as a teenager. The play was picked up as a movie for streaming by Amazon in 2020.
In a comment about her play, Heidi said, “I would say those things, like my dad’s love of history, my mom’s love of theater, my great debate coach at high school, all shaped [me into] the artist I became [and] the writer,” Schreck said. “They certainly had a huge effect on the making of this play, which is about being a teenage girl in Wenatchee doing debate.”
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Class of 1982 | Kickapoo High School, Missouri
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and producer. He has received multiple awards and nominations including an Academy Award as producer under his own company Plan B Entertainment. Pitt is best known for his performances in Fight Club, Ocean’s Eleven, Troy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and The Big Short.
Class of 2009 | Arts High School, New Jersey
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez is an American actress and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Rodriguez attended several performing arts schools in her youth before being cast in a theater production of Rent as Angel Dumott Schunard, winning the 2011 Clive Barnes Award for her performance.
From 2012 to 2016, Rodriguez began to work on stage again and appeared in small television roles, including Nurse Jackie, The Carrie Diaries, and Luke Cage.
In 2017, Rodriguez was cast as one of the lead roles in the FX television series Pose, making her part of the largest cast of transgender actresses to be starring as series regulars in a scripted series. In 2021, she became the first transgender woman to earn an Emmy Award nomination in a major acting category; she was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in the third and final season of Pose and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama.
Michaela is also known for her lead roles in American Horror Story: Delicate and Loot.
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Class of 1989 | Wenatchee High School, WA
Heidi Schreck is a playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Her play, “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which she also performs in, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Awards for 2019 Best Play and Best Actress in a Play. Heidi’s play is partially autobiographical, relating her real-life experience in participating in speech and debate as a teenager. The play was picked up as a movie for streaming by Amazon in 2020.
In a comment about her play, Heidi said, “I would say those things, like my dad’s love of history, my mom’s love of theater, my great debate coach at high school, all shaped [me into] the artist I became [and] the writer,” Schreck said. “They certainly had a huge effect on the making of this play, which is about being a teenage girl in Wenatchee doing debate.”
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Class of 1987 | Shawnee Mission West High School, Kansas
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his starring roles in the films The Cider House Rules (1999) and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), the comedy films Clueless (1995), Wet Hot American Summer(2001), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), The 40-Year-Old Virgin
(2005), Knocked Up (2007), Role Models (2008), I Love You, Man (2009), Dinner for Schmucks (2010), Our Idiot Brother (2011), Wanderlust (2012), This Is 40 (2012), and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), and for playing the superhero Ant-Man in Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man (2015) and Captain America: Civil War (2016).
Katy Selverstone
Class of 1984 | Scranton Central High School, Pennsylvania
Katy Selverstone is an American actress. She is primarily known for her work on The Drew Carey Show as Lisa Robbins, Drew Carey’s girlfriend. More recently, she worked on higher profile shows (such as NYPD Blue, CSI, and CSI: Miami) and movies (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood). She is also known for her work on the stage, featuring in the original Broadway cast of The Ride Down Mt. Morgan.
Yara Shahidi
Class of 2017 | Dwight Global Online School
Yara Shahidi is an actress and activist known for her portrayal of Zoey Johnson in the hit TV series, Black-ish, which led to her starring role in the spin-off series, Grown-ish.
She has been nominated for numerous awards and has received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, BET Award for YoungStar, Gracie Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Breakthrough Role, and more.
Beyond her acting career, Yara is recognized for her advocacy work, particularly in promoting education and social justice.
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Jenny Slate
Class of 2000 | Milton Academy, Massachusetts
Jenny Slate is an actress, stand-up comedian, and writer. She is best known as a cast member on SNL from 2009-2010, followed by roles in Bob’s Burgers, Parks and Recreation, House of Lies, and Kroll Show. She also co-created, wrote, and produced the children’s short film and book series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2010–present). Most recently, she appeared in the science-fiction film Everything Everywhere All at Once, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
About her time in speech and debate, Jenny said, “When I was a senior in high school, my biggest achievement shifted from being a speech team champion to being on the French kissing market after years of not being even allowed in the marketplace. And when it came time for me to go to the national speech and debate championship and fight for my speech team’s place in our world, I chose instead to skip it and try to kiss this guy Travis.”
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Brent Spiner
Houston-Bellaire High School, Texas
Brent Spiner is an American actor, comedian, and singer best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. In 1997, he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact, and was nominated in the same category for portraying Dr. Brackish Okun in Independence Day, a role he reprised in Independence Day: Resurgence. He has also enjoyed a career in the theatre and as a musician.
In 1967, Spiner was the national champion in Dramatic Interpretation, competing under the name Brent Mintz.
Class of 1984 | Scranton Central High School, Pennsylvania
Katy Selverstone is an American actress. She is primarily known for her work on The Drew Carey Show as Lisa Robbins, Drew Carey’s girlfriend. More recently, she worked on higher profile shows (such as NYPD Blue, CSI, and CSI: Miami) and movies (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood). She is also known for her work on the stage, featuring in the original Broadway cast of The Ride Down Mt. Morgan.
Class of 2017 | Dwight Global Online School
Yara Shahidi is an actress and activist known for her portrayal of Zoey Johnson in the hit TV series, Black-ish, which led to her starring role in the spin-off series, Grown-ish.
She has been nominated for numerous awards and has received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, BET Award for YoungStar, Gracie Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Breakthrough Role, and more.
Beyond her acting career, Yara is recognized for her advocacy work, particularly in promoting education and social justice.
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Class of 2000 | Milton Academy, Massachusetts
Jenny Slate is an actress, stand-up comedian, and writer. She is best known as a cast member on SNL from 2009-2010, followed by roles in Bob’s Burgers, Parks and Recreation, House of Lies, and Kroll Show. She also co-created, wrote, and produced the children’s short film and book series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2010–present). Most recently, she appeared in the science-fiction film Everything Everywhere All at Once, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
About her time in speech and debate, Jenny said, “When I was a senior in high school, my biggest achievement shifted from being a speech team champion to being on the French kissing market after years of not being even allowed in the marketplace. And when it came time for me to go to the national speech and debate championship and fight for my speech team’s place in our world, I chose instead to skip it and try to kiss this guy Travis.”
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Houston-Bellaire High School, Texas
Brent Spiner is an American actor, comedian, and singer best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. In 1997, he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact, and was nominated in the same category for portraying Dr. Brackish Okun in Independence Day, a role he reprised in Independence Day: Resurgence. He has also enjoyed a career in the theatre and as a musician.
In 1967, Spiner was the national champion in Dramatic Interpretation, competing under the name Brent Mintz.
Bruce Springsteen
Class of 1967 | Freehold Borough High School, New Jersey
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen is a singer-songwriter, known for his work with the E Street Band. Nicknamed “The Boss,” he is widely known for his brand of poetic lyrics and Americana. His most successful studio albums, Born to Run (1975) and Born in the U.S.A. (1984) find pleasures in the struggles of daily American life. He has sold more than 120 million records worldwide and more than 64 million records in the United States, making him one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, and an Academy Award as well as being inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1999. In 2009, Springsteen was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, in 2013 was named MusiCares person of the year, and in 2016 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Jason Sudeikis
Class of 1994 | Shawnee Mission West High School, KS
Jason Sudeikis is an actor, comedian, writer, and producer who began his career in improv and found fame as a cast member on Saturday NIght Live from 2005 to 2013. More recently, Jason co-created and starred as the lead in Ted Lasso earning him Emmy’s for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, two Golden Globes for Best Actor in a TV Comedy Series, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.
Sudeikis has also had the lead role in many feature films including Horrible Bosses (1 & 2), We’re the Millers, Downsizing, and more.
Fun Fact: Both Jason and Paud Rudd participated in speech and debate at Shawnee Mission West High School and were coached by Sally Shipley.
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Maria Thayer
Class of 1994 | Apple Valley High School, Minnesota
Paper magazine named Maria Thayer one of the “Eight Women in Comedy that are Going to Take Over the World.” Maria received her television break in Strangers With Candy. She currently stars in the series Those Who Can’t. She also starred in the Adult Swim series Eagleheart. Her other television work includes roles in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project, Review, Portlandia, Married, Difficult People, Man Seeking Woman, The League, Kroll Show, New Girl, Maron, Cougar Town, Arrested Development, and Gotham.
Her film credits include Night of The Living Deb, Fox Searchlight’s Table 19, State of Play, Steve Pink’s Accepted, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Todd Solondz’s Storytelling, and the independent Let Go.
Thayer is a graduate of The Juilliard School. She lives in Los Angeles.
Kenan Thompson
Class of 1996 | Woodward Academy, Georgia
Kenan Thompson is known for his work as a cast member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, where he is the longest serving cast member in the show’s history. In his teenage years, he was an original cast member of Nickelodeon’s sketch comedy series All That. Thompson is also known for his roles as Kenan Rockmore in the sitcom Kenan & Kel, Russ Tyler in The Mighty Ducks franchise, Dexter Reed in the film Good Burger, and Fat Albert as the title character. Thompson is the current host of TeenNick’s 1990s programming block, The ’90s Are All That.
Class of 1967 | Freehold Borough High School, New Jersey
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen is a singer-songwriter, known for his work with the E Street Band. Nicknamed “The Boss,” he is widely known for his brand of poetic lyrics and Americana. His most successful studio albums, Born to Run (1975) and Born in the U.S.A. (1984) find pleasures in the struggles of daily American life. He has sold more than 120 million records worldwide and more than 64 million records in the United States, making him one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, and an Academy Award as well as being inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1999. In 2009, Springsteen was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, in 2013 was named MusiCares person of the year, and in 2016 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Class of 1994 | Shawnee Mission West High School, KS
Jason Sudeikis is an actor, comedian, writer, and producer who began his career in improv and found fame as a cast member on Saturday NIght Live from 2005 to 2013. More recently, Jason co-created and starred as the lead in Ted Lasso earning him Emmy’s for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, two Golden Globes for Best Actor in a TV Comedy Series, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.
Sudeikis has also had the lead role in many feature films including Horrible Bosses (1 & 2), We’re the Millers, Downsizing, and more.
Fun Fact: Both Jason and Paud Rudd participated in speech and debate at Shawnee Mission West High School and were coached by Sally Shipley.
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Class of 1994 | Apple Valley High School, Minnesota
Paper magazine named Maria Thayer one of the “Eight Women in Comedy that are Going to Take Over the World.” Maria received her television break in Strangers With Candy. She currently stars in the series Those Who Can’t. She also starred in the Adult Swim series Eagleheart. Her other television work includes roles in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project, Review, Portlandia, Married, Difficult People, Man Seeking Woman, The League, Kroll Show, New Girl, Maron, Cougar Town, Arrested Development, and Gotham.
Her film credits include Night of The Living Deb, Fox Searchlight’s Table 19, State of Play, Steve Pink’s Accepted, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Todd Solondz’s Storytelling, and the independent Let Go.
Thayer is a graduate of The Juilliard School. She lives in Los Angeles.
Class of 1996 | Woodward Academy, Georgia
Kenan Thompson is known for his work as a cast member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, where he is the longest serving cast member in the show’s history. In his teenage years, he was an original cast member of Nickelodeon’s sketch comedy series All That. Thompson is also known for his roles as Kenan Rockmore in the sitcom Kenan & Kel, Russ Tyler in The Mighty Ducks franchise, Dexter Reed in the film Good Burger, and Fat Albert as the title character. Thompson is the current host of TeenNick’s 1990s programming block, The ’90s Are All That.
Stephen Tobolowsky
Justin F. Kimball High School, Texas
Stephen Harold Tobolowsky is a character actor, author, and musician. Tobolowsky has appeared in more than 200 films plus many television projects. He is known for film roles such as annoying insurance agent Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, as well as such television characters as Commissioner Hugo Jarry (Deadwood), Bob Bishop (Heroes), Sandy Ryerson (Glee), Stu Beggs (Californication), and Action Jack Barker (Silicon Valley).
Watch Stephen speak about celebrating National Speech and Debate Education Day!
Michael Urie
Class of 1998 | Plano Senior High School, Texas
Michael Urie has performed on both the screen and the stage as an actor, producer, director, and host. Urie is best known for his role as Marc St. James on Ugly Betty. He has also starred on Broadway in the Tony nominated revival of Torch Song and more recently as William Shakespeare in Jane Anger. He also stars as Brian in the Apple+ television series, Shrinking with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford released in Jan. 2023.
Urie won the national championship in Dramatic Interpretation at the 1998 National Tournament. Watch his performance, “Confessions of a Nightingale” »
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Michael Benjamin Washington
Class of 1997 | Plano Sr HS, TX
Michael Benjamin Washington is an actor known for his roles in American Auto, 100 Questions, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. He has also performed in Broadway productions of The Boys in the Band, Funny Girl, Mamma Mia!, La Cage aux Folles, and others.
During his speech & debate career, he became the Humorous Interpretation Champion in 1996 and the Dramatic Interpretation Champion in 1997.
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Oprah Winfrey
Class of 1971 | East Nashville High School, Tennessee
Oprah Winfrey is a media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, publisher, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Dubbed the “Queen of All Media,” she has been ranked the richest African American and the greatest Black philanthropist in American history. In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
IN HER WORDS | “Forensics gives you a sense of confidence in speaking in front of people, a sense of presence, and a sense of pride. It’s about the power of words to influence ideas, to uncover a higher truth, to change minds, and for a lot of people, even to change lives.”
Justin F. Kimball High School, Texas
Stephen Harold Tobolowsky is a character actor, author, and musician. Tobolowsky has appeared in more than 200 films plus many television projects. He is known for film roles such as annoying insurance agent Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, as well as such television characters as Commissioner Hugo Jarry (Deadwood), Bob Bishop (Heroes), Sandy Ryerson (Glee), Stu Beggs (Californication), and Action Jack Barker (Silicon Valley).
Watch Stephen speak about celebrating National Speech and Debate Education Day!
Class of 1998 | Plano Senior High School, Texas
Michael Urie has performed on both the screen and the stage as an actor, producer, director, and host. Urie is best known for his role as Marc St. James on Ugly Betty. He has also starred on Broadway in the Tony nominated revival of Torch Song and more recently as William Shakespeare in Jane Anger. He also stars as Brian in the Apple+ television series, Shrinking with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford released in Jan. 2023.
Urie won the national championship in Dramatic Interpretation at the 1998 National Tournament. Watch his performance, “Confessions of a Nightingale” »
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Class of 1971 | East Nashville High School, Tennessee
Oprah Winfrey is a media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, publisher, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Dubbed the “Queen of All Media,” she has been ranked the richest African American and the greatest Black philanthropist in American history. In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
Check out her video message to our 2024 National Finalists!
IN HER WORDS | “Forensics gives you a sense of confidence in speaking in front of people, a sense of presence, and a sense of pride. It’s about the power of words to influence ideas, to uncover a higher truth, to change minds, and for a lot of people, even to change lives.”
Class of 1997 | Plano Sr HS, TX
Michael Benjamin Washington is an actor known for his roles in American Auto, 100 Questions, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. He has also performed in Broadway productions of The Boys in the Band, Funny Girl, Mamma Mia!, La Cage aux Folles, and others.
During his speech & debate career, he became the Humorous Interpretation Champion in 1996 and the Dramatic Interpretation Champion in 1997.
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BD Wong
Class of 1978 | Lincoln High School, California
Bradley Darryl “BD” Wong made his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly. He is the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theater World Award for the same performance. He is now starring in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures.
Bowen Yang
Class of 2008 | Smoky Hill HS, Colorado
Bowen Yang is a comedian, writer, and actor who gained prominence as a cast member on the sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live”. Yang joined the SNL cast in 2019, becoming the show’s first Chinese-American and third openly gay male cast member. Yang has garnered critical acclaim for his comedic performances, including making history by becoming the first SNL featured player to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2021.
He co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast, Las Culturistas, with Matt Rogers and has appeared in the television series Girls5Eva, Ziwe, and The Other Two, and is a cast member on Awkwafina is Nora from Queens. He is also known for his appearances in the LGBTQ romantic comedies Fire Island and Bros, both released in 2022.
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Weird Al Yankovic
Class of 1976 | Lynwood High School, California
Alfred Matthew “Weird Al” Yankovic is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing comedy songs that often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. He also performs original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, as well as polka medleys of several popular songs, most of which feature his trademark accordion.
Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2015), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His work has earned him five Grammy Awards and a further 11 nominations, four gold records and six platinum records in the U.S. His first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single (“White & Nerdy”) were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career. His fourteenth studio album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album during its debut week.
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Class of 1978 | Lincoln High School, California
Bradley Darryl “BD” Wong made his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly. He is the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theater World Award for the same performance. He is now starring in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures.
Class of 2008 | Smoky Hill HS, Colorado
Bowen Yang is a comedian, writer, and actor who gained prominence as a cast member on the sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live”. Yang joined the SNL cast in 2019, becoming the show’s first Chinese-American and third openly gay male cast member. Yang has garnered critical acclaim for his comedic performances, including making history by becoming the first SNL featured player to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2021.
He co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast, Las Culturistas, with Matt Rogers and has appeared in the television series Girls5Eva, Ziwe, and The Other Two, and is a cast member on Awkwafina is Nora from Queens. He is also known for his appearances in the LGBTQ romantic comedies Fire Island and Bros, both released in 2022.
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Class of 1976 | Lynwood High School, California
Alfred Matthew “Weird Al” Yankovic is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing comedy songs that often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. He also performs original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, as well as polka medleys of several popular songs, most of which feature his trademark accordion.
Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2015), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His work has earned him five Grammy Awards and a further 11 nominations, four gold records and six platinum records in the U.S. His first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single (“White & Nerdy”) were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career. His fourteenth studio album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album during its debut week.
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Entertainment
Preston Boyd
Class of 2004 | Moorhead High School, Minnesota
Preston Boyd has been a principal actor in two national Broadway tours: in Jersey Boys as Bob Gaudio and as The Monster in The New Mel Brooks Musical: Young Frankenstein. He has performed in regional theatre productions of Of Mice and Men, Les Miserables, Singin’ in the Rain, Oklahoma, Annie Get Your Gun, Oliver, Peter Pan, and Aida. He performed in Working at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Preston is excited to play the role of Artie Green and join Glenn Close in the Broadway musical revival of Sunset Boulevard.
Kevin Burke
Class of 1979 | Munster High School, Indiana
Kevin Burke, named Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year, has been starring in Defending the Caveman since 2003. As the star of the Vegas production, Kevin has performed Caveman over 3,000 times, making it the longest-running Broadway show in Las Vegas history. Kevin also set the Guinness World Record for “Most Theatrical Performances in 50 Days.”
Kevin has appeared on Oprah, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, CBS Morning News, Bob & Tom Radio Network, and The Dr. Laura Berman Show on SiriusXM.
Nina Grollman
Class of 2013 | Moorhead High School, Minnesota
Nina Grollman is an actor and musician based in New York. They earned a BFA in Drama from The Juilliard School in 2017. Their Broadway credits include Margie in Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh and Scout in Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. Grollman’s original song “Crush,” produced under her pseudonym Softee, was selected by Rolling Stone as a “Song You Need to Know.”
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Becky Gulsvig
Class of 2001 | Moorhead High School, Minnesota
Becky Gulsvig is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Gulsvig’s first role was that of Wendy in a touring production of Peter Pan. She has performed on Broadway in Hairspray as Amber Von Tussle and originated the role of Leilani in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde the Musical, understudying the roles of Elle Woods, Serena, and Margot. She starred as Elle Woods in the North American national tour of Legally Blonde the Musical and was nominated for the 2009 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production. Gulsvig performed the song “So Much Better” live at the 2009 Tony Awards ceremony. In 2015, Gulsvig played Cynthia Weil in the U.S. national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She returned to Broadway in 2010 as Patty in School of Rock.
IN HER WORDS | “Speech played such a huge role in making me who I am today. On and off the stage I am a better person and performer because of the creativity and confidence that speech gave me. I am so thankful for Rebecca Meyer-Larson and my Moorhead Senior High School speech experience!”
Class of 2001 | Moorhead High School, Minnesota
Becky Gulsvig is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Gulsvig’s first role was that of Wendy in a touring production of Peter Pan. She has performed on Broadway in Hairspray as Amber Von Tussle and originated the role of Leilani in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde the Musical, understudying the roles of Elle Woods, Serena, and Margot. She starred as Elle Woods in the North American national tour of Legally Blonde the Musical and was nominated for the 2009 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production. Gulsvig performed the song “So Much Better” live at the 2009 Tony Awards ceremony. In 2015, Gulsvig played Cynthia Weil in the U.S. national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She returned to Broadway in 2010 as Patty in School of Rock.
IN HER WORDS | “Speech played such a huge role in making me who I am today. On and off the stage I am a better person and performer because of the creativity and confidence that speech gave me. I am so thankful for Rebecca Meyer-Larson and my Moorhead Senior High School speech experience!”
Class of 2004 | Moorhead High School, Minnesota
Preston Boyd has been a principal actor in two national Broadway tours: in Jersey Boys as Bob Gaudio and as The Monster in The New Mel Brooks Musical: Young Frankenstein. He has performed in regional theatre productions of Of Mice and Men, Les Miserables, Singin’ in the Rain, Oklahoma, Annie Get Your Gun, Oliver, Peter Pan, and Aida. He performed in Working at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Preston is excited to play the role of Artie Green and join Glenn Close in the Broadway musical revival of Sunset Boulevard.
Class of 1979 | Munster High School, Indiana
Kevin Burke, named Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year, has been starring in Defending the Caveman since 2003. As the star of the Vegas production, Kevin has performed Caveman over 3,000 times, making it the longest-running Broadway show in Las Vegas history. Kevin also set the Guinness World Record for “Most Theatrical Performances in 50 Days.”
Kevin has appeared on Oprah, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, CBS Morning News, Bob & Tom Radio Network, and The Dr. Laura Berman Show on SiriusXM.
Class of 2013 | Moorhead High School, Minnesota
Nina Grollman is an actor and musician based in New York. They earned a BFA in Drama from The Juilliard School in 2017. Their Broadway credits include Margie in Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh and Scout in Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. Grollman’s original song “Crush,” produced under her pseudonym Softee, was selected by Rolling Stone as a “Song You Need to Know.”
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John Hoogenakker
South Mecklenburg High School, North Carolina
John Hoogenakker is a stage, screen and commercial actor having played the Bud Light King in Bud Light’s “Dilly Dilly” television commercials, Lt. Spellman in Chicago Fire, Matice in Jack Ryan, Carl Wilkes in Castle Rock, and Randy Ramseyer in Dopesick. Most recently John played Clive Doyle in the TV mini-series, Waco: The Aftermath.
In high school, John competed at two National Tournaments, 1994 in Kansas City, MO and 1995 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. His former classmate, Monica Williams, said he was best known on the debate team for humorous interpretations that bordered on stand-up comedy. “He could mimic someone just a minute after they walked away,” she recalls. “He took it seriously, too. It wasn’t a hobby or a habit. He loved performing.”
Check out Brian Baumgartner’s “Off the Beat” podcast with special guest John Hoogenakker »
Read more about John’s experience in HI »
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Erik Jensen
Class of 1988 | Apple Valley HS, Minnesotta
Erik Jensen is an actor, playwright, screenwriter, documentarian, and director. His most recent work includes playing Dez O’Reilly in For Life, Thurman Munson in the ESPN miniseries, The Bronx is Burning, and Dr. Stephen Edwards on The Walking Dead.
Erik has written and co-written a number of plays including The Exonerated, Aftermath, Almost Home, How to Be A Rock Critic, and Coal Country. The Exonerated, a play based on interviews with more than 40 exonerated death row inmates, ran for more than 600 performances off-Broadway, toured nationally, was adapated as a movie for Court TV, and won a number of awards.
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Anson A. Mount, IV
Class of 1991 | Dickson County High School, Tennessee
Anson Mount is perhaps best known for portraying protagonist Cullen Bohannon on AMC’s Hell on Wheels and Jim Steele on Conviction. He has also starred as Black Bolt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and as Captain Christopher Pike in the Star Trek series Discovery, Short Treks, and Strange New Worlds.
His podcast The Well features interviews with innovators and creators about how they think outside the box.
Anson placed among the top 40 contestants in Dramatic Interpretation at the 1991 National Tournament.
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Donna Murphy
Class of 1977 | Masconomet Regional HS, Massachussetts
Donna Murphy is an American actress, best known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in Passion and as Anna Leonowens in The King and I. She was also nominated for her roles as Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town (2003), Lotte Lenya in LoveMusik (2007), and Bubbie/Raisel in The People in the Picture (2011).
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South Mecklenburg High School, North Carolina
John Hoogenakker is a stage, screen and commercial actor having played the Bud Light King in Bud Light’s “Dilly Dilly” television commercials, Lt. Spellman in Chicago Fire, Matice in Jack Ryan, Carl Wilkes in Castle Rock, and Randy Ramseyer in Dopesick. Most recently John played Clive Doyle in the TV mini-series, Waco: The Aftermath.
In high school, John competed at two National Tournaments, 1994 in Kansas City, MO and 1995 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. His former classmate, Monica Williams, said he was best known on the debate team for humorous interpretations that bordered on stand-up comedy. “He could mimic someone just a minute after they walked away,” she recalls. “He took it seriously, too. It wasn’t a hobby or a habit. He loved performing.”
Check out Brian Baumgartner’s “Off the Beat” podcast with special guest John Hoogenakker »
Read more about John’s experience in HI »
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Class of 1988 | Apple Valley HS, Minnesotta
Erik Jensen is an actor, playwright, screenwriter, documentarian, and director. His most recent work includes playing Dez O’Reilly in For Life, Thurman Munson in the ESPN miniseries, The Bronx is Burning, and Dr. Stephen Edwards on The Walking Dead.
Erik has written and co-written a number of plays including The Exonerated, Aftermath, Almost Home, How to Be A Rock Critic, and Coal Country. The Exonerated, a play based on interviews with more than 40 exonerated death row inmates, ran for more than 600 performances off-Broadway, toured nationally, was adapated as a movie for Court TV, and won a number of awards.
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Class of 1991 | Dickson County High School, Tennessee
Anson Mount is perhaps best known for portraying protagonist Cullen Bohannon on AMC’s Hell on Wheels and Jim Steele on Conviction. He has also starred as Black Bolt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and as Captain Christopher Pike in the Star Trek series Discovery, Short Treks, and Strange New Worlds.
His podcast The Well features interviews with innovators and creators about how they think outside the box.
Anson placed among the top 40 contestants in Dramatic Interpretation at the 1991 National Tournament.
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Class of 1977 | Masconomet Regional HS, Massachussetts
Donna Murphy is an American actress, best known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in Passion and as Anna Leonowens in The King and I. She was also nominated for her roles as Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town (2003), Lotte Lenya in LoveMusik (2007), and Bubbie/Raisel in The People in the Picture (2011).
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Louie Provost
Class of 1999 | Grapevine High School, Texas
After studying History and Philosophy at Northwestern University, Louie Provost moved to Los Angeles to attend the American Film Institute’s producing program. He started his career at Paramount Vantage and Scott Rudin Productions before joining Walt Disney Studios in 2007. As a production and development executive at Disney, some of the films he’s worked on include The Muppets, Saving Mr. Banks, Maleficent, Pete’s Dragon and the live action remake of Aladdin.
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Danielle Schneider
Class of 1993 | Spanish River Community, Florida
Danielle Schneider is an actress, writer, and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She co-created and starred in the Hulu reality TV parody series The Hotwives and currently co-hosts the podcast Bitch Sesh.
Schneider is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She has been a performer and teacher at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City and Los Angeles, where she was a member of one of UCB’s original improvisational comedy troupes Respecto Montalban.
On December 2, 2015, Schneider and Casey Wilson began hosting the podcast Bitch Sesh, where they and a guest have comedic discussions about the previous night’s episode of The Real Housewives, as well as other topics related to the Bravo channel. Websites including Vulture, Entertainment Weekly and The A.V. Club ranked Bitch Sesh among the best comedy podcasts of 2016.
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Casey Simpson
Class of 2022 | Agoura High, California
Casey Simpson is an actor best known for his role as Ricky Harper on the Nickelodeon series Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn. Casey was three years old when he began his acting career, landing his first gig on Frank TV in a comedy skit called Santa. He later went on to star in the film Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library in 2017. Casey was nominated for Kids Choice Awards in 2016 and 2017.
Casey also works as a content creator, amassing over 12 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Rachel Sussman
Class of 2008 | Grove High School, Michigan
Rachel Sussman is a Tony Award-winning producer, educator, and entrepreneur who co-founded The MITTEN Lab, an emerging artist residency program in Michigan, and The Business of Broadway, an organization dedicated to “pulling back the curtain” and democratizing the business of Broadway.
Rachel, as part of the producing group Runyonland Sussman, earned her first Tony Award for co-producing Parade. What the Constitution Means to Me (Tony nominated, Pulitzer finalist), The Woodsman (Obie Award), and The Old Man and the Pool are a few of her producing credits.
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Class of 1993 | Spanish River Community, Florida
Danielle Schneider is an actress, writer, and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She co-created and starred in the Hulu reality TV parody series The Hotwives and currently co-hosts the podcast Bitch Sesh.
Schneider is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She has been a performer and teacher at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City and Los Angeles, where she was a member of one of UCB’s original improvisational comedy troupes Respecto Montalban.
On December 2, 2015, Schneider and Casey Wilson began hosting the podcast Bitch Sesh, where they and a guest have comedic discussions about the previous night’s episode of The Real Housewives, as well as other topics related to the Bravo channel. Websites including Vulture, Entertainment Weekly and The A.V. Club ranked Bitch Sesh among the best comedy podcasts of 2016.
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Class of 1999 | Grapevine High School, Texas
After studying History and Philosophy at Northwestern University, Louie Provost moved to Los Angeles to attend the American Film Institute’s producing program. He started his career at Paramount Vantage and Scott Rudin Productions before joining Walt Disney Studios in 2007. As a production and development executive at Disney, some of the films he’s worked on include The Muppets, Saving Mr. Banks, Maleficent, Pete’s Dragon and the live action remake of Aladdin.
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Class of 2022 | Agoura High, California
Casey Simpson is an actor best known for his role as Ricky Harper on the Nickelodeon series Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn. Casey was three years old when he began his acting career, landing his first gig on Frank TV in a comedy skit called Santa. He later went on to star in the film Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library in 2017. Casey was nominated for Kids Choice Awards in 2016 and 2017.
Casey also works as a content creator, amassing over 12 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Class of 2008 | Grove High School, Michigan
Rachel Sussman is a Tony Award-winning producer, educator, and entrepreneur who co-founded The MITTEN Lab, an emerging artist residency program in Michigan, and The Business of Broadway, an organization dedicated to “pulling back the curtain” and democratizing the business of Broadway.
Rachel, as part of the producing group Runyonland Sussman, earned her first Tony Award for co-producing Parade. What the Constitution Means to Me (Tony nominated, Pulitzer finalist), The Woodsman (Obie Award), and The Old Man and the Pool are a few of her producing credits.
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Government
Stacey Abrams
Class of 1991 |Avondale High School, GA
Stacey Abrams is a politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and an author. She served as the minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2011-2017 and has been widely credited with boosting voter turnout in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. Stacey has authored eleven books, both fiction and nonfiction, and was nominated for an Emmy for her voice-over work in a special episode of Black-ish.
Stacey was hired as the inaugural Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics at Howard University in 2023.
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Rebecca Blank
Alexander Ramsey High School, Minnesota
Rebecca Blank was an economist and worked as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2013-2022. Blank served as United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce when she was named to lead the United States Department of Commerce as Acting Secretary in 2012.
A native of Missouri, Blank is a summa cum laude graduate in economics from the University of Minnesota and holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Blank was the national champion in Girls’ Extemporaneous Speaking in 1973, a fact that was included in her nomination to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce.
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G.T. Bynum
Class 0f 1996 | Cascia Hall Preparatory, Oklahoma
George Theron Bynum IV is an American politician and lobbyist who has served as the 40th mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma since 2016. Bynum was first elected to the Tulsa City Council representing the ninth district in 2008 as a Republican and served four terms before running for mayor in 2016. His achievements in office have brought him national and international recognition from his Ted Talk on replacing partisanship with policy to his international keynote address at the British Government’s Leadership Conference.
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Yvanna Cancela
Class of 2006 | Carrollton School Of The Sacred Heart, Florida
Yvanna Cancela is the first Latina state senator in Nevada and serves as the Executive Director of the Immigrant Workers Citizenship Project, which helps individuals apply to become a citizen free of charge. Previously, she was the political director of Nevada’s largest immigrant organization, the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas. In high school, Yvanna competed in Policy Debate at Carrollton School Of The Sacred Heart.
Class of 1991 |Avondale High School, GA
Stacey Abrams is a politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and an author. She served as the minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2011-2017 and has been widely credited with boosting voter turnout in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. Stacey has authored eleven books, both fiction and nonfiction, and was nominated for an Emmy for her voice-over work in a special episode of Black-ish.
Stacey was hired as the inaugural Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics at Howard University in 2023.
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Alexander Ramsey High School, Minnesota
Rebecca Blank was an economist and worked as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2013-2022. Blank served as United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce when she was named to lead the United States Department of Commerce as Acting Secretary in 2012.
A native of Missouri, Blank is a summa cum laude graduate in economics from the University of Minnesota and holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Blank was the national champion in Girls’ Extemporaneous Speaking in 1973, a fact that was included in her nomination to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce.
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Class 0f 1996 | Cascia Hall Preparatory, Oklahoma
George Theron Bynum IV is an American politician and lobbyist who has served as the 40th mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma since 2016. Bynum was first elected to the Tulsa City Council representing the ninth district in 2008 as a Republican and served four terms before running for mayor in 2016. His achievements in office have brought him national and international recognition from his Ted Talk on replacing partisanship with policy to his international keynote address at the British Government’s Leadership Conference.
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Class of 2006 | Carrollton School Of The Sacred Heart, Florida
Yvanna Cancela is the first Latina state senator in Nevada and serves as the Executive Director of the Immigrant Workers Citizenship Project, which helps individuals apply to become a citizen free of charge. Previously, she was the political director of Nevada’s largest immigrant organization, the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas. In high school, Yvanna competed in Policy Debate at Carrollton School Of The Sacred Heart.
Joaquín Castro
Thomas Jefferson High School, Texas
Joaquín Castro is an American Democratic politician who has served in the United States House of Representatives for Texas’s 20th congressional district since 2013. The district includes just over half of his native San Antonio, Texas, as well as some of its nearby suburbs. Joaquín graduated with honors from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and communications and earned a Juris Doctor with his twin brother at Harvard Law School. From 2003 to 2013, Castro was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 125. While in the Texas state legislature, Castro served as vice-chair of the Higher Education Committee and was a member of the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee.
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Frank G. Clement
Class of 1937 | Dickson County High School, Tennessee
Frank G. Clement was an American lawyer and politician who served as Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1967. His 10 years in office was the longest of any of the state’s 20th century governors. Clement owed much of his rapid political rise to his ability to deliver rousing, mesmerizing speeches. As governor, Clement oversaw the state’s economic transformation from a predominantly agricultural state to an industrial state. He increased funding for education and mental health and was the first Southern governor to veto a segregation bill. In 1956, he dispatched the National Guard to disperse a crowd attempting to prevent integration at Clinton High School.
IN HIS WORDS | “I cannot think of anyone in the country who owes more to his participation in the National Forensic League events than I do.”
William J. Crowe Jr.
Class of 1940 | Oklahoma City-Classen High School, Oklahoma
William James Crowe Jr. was a United States Navy admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In 1993, President Clinton named Crowe chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Then in 1994, President Clinton appointed Crowe the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He served in that capacity until 1997. Following his retirement from the Navy, Crowe was awarded a 2000 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor.
IN HIS WORDS | “Debate was the single most important activity I participated in at the Naval Academy.”
Steve Daines
Class of 1980 | Bozeman High School, Montana
Steve Daines is a United States Senator from Montana. He previously was the U.S. Representative for Montana’s at-large congressional district from 2013 to 2015. In the 2014 midterm election, he won an open seat, defeating Democrat Amanda Curtis. Prior to his career in public office, Daines spent 13 years with Procter & Gamble, where he helped expand their business to Hong Kong and China.
Thomas Jefferson High School, Texas
Joaquín Castro is an American Democratic politician who has served in the United States House of Representatives for Texas’s 20th congressional district since 2013. The district includes just over half of his native San Antonio, Texas, as well as some of its nearby suburbs. Joaquín graduated with honors from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and communications and earned a Juris Doctor with his twin brother at Harvard Law School. From 2003 to 2013, Castro was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 125. While in the Texas state legislature, Castro served as vice-chair of the Higher Education Committee and was a member of the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee.
Class of 1937 | Dickson County High School, Tennessee
Frank G. Clement was an American lawyer and politician who served as Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1967. His 10 years in office was the longest of any of the state’s 20th century governors. Clement owed much of his rapid political rise to his ability to deliver rousing, mesmerizing speeches. As governor, Clement oversaw the state’s economic transformation from a predominantly agricultural state to an industrial state. He increased funding for education and mental health and was the first Southern governor to veto a segregation bill. In 1956, he dispatched the National Guard to disperse a crowd attempting to prevent integration at Clinton High School.
IN HIS WORDS | “I cannot think of anyone in the country who owes more to his participation in the National Forensic League events than I do.”
Class of 1940 | Oklahoma City-Classen High School, Oklahoma
William James Crowe Jr. was a United States Navy admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In 1993, President Clinton named Crowe chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Then in 1994, President Clinton appointed Crowe the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He served in that capacity until 1997. Following his retirement from the Navy, Crowe was awarded a 2000 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor.
IN HIS WORDS | “Debate was the single most important activity I participated in at the Naval Academy.”
Class of 1980 | Bozeman High School, Montana
Steve Daines is a United States Senator from Montana. He previously was the U.S. Representative for Montana’s at-large congressional district from 2013 to 2015. In the 2014 midterm election, he won an open seat, defeating Democrat Amanda Curtis. Prior to his career in public office, Daines spent 13 years with Procter & Gamble, where he helped expand their business to Hong Kong and China.
Diana DeGette
Class of 1975 | Denver-South High School, CO
Diana DeGette is a lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Colorado’s 1st congressional district since 1997. DeGette was a Chief Deputy Whip from 2005 to 2019 and is the dean of Colorado’s congressional delegation.
DeGette is recognized as a leading voice in the nation’s health care debate. As a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, DeGettehas played a leading role in overseeing the nation’s health care agencies and the nation’s overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s also led numerous efforts to ensure the nation’s environmental laws are being properly enforced, lower the cost of insulin for millions of Americans and take on the climate crisis.
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Viet Dinh
Fullerton High School, California
Viet Dinh is a lawyer and a conservative legal scholar who served as an Assistant Attorney General of the United States from 2001 to 2003, under the presidency of George W. Bush. Born in Saigon, in the former South Vietnam, he was the chief architect of the USA PATRIOT Act and is a former member of the Board of Directors of News Corporation.
Russ Feingold
Class of 1971 | Joseph A. Craig High School, Wisconsin
Russ Feingold is an American lawyer and politician from Wisconsin. He served as a democratic member of the U.S. Senate from 1993-2011. During his time in the U.S. Senate, Feingold gained a reputation as a political maverick with an independent streak. Previously, he was a Wisconsin State Senator in the 27th district. Feingold received the John F. Kennedy Profit in Courage Award for cosponsoring the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which is a piece of campaign finance reform legislation. In 2013, he was selected by Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as a special envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa.
Peggy Flanagan
Class of 1997 | St. Louis Park High School, Minnesota
Peggy Flanagan is Minnesota’s 50th Lieutenant Governor, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and currently the country’s highest ranking Native woman elected to executive office. At the center of all her work is making progress for children, working families, communities of color and Indigenous communities, and Minnesotans who have historically been underserved and underrepresented.
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Class of 1975 | Denver-South High School, CO
Diana DeGette is a lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Colorado’s 1st congressional district since 1997. DeGette was a Chief Deputy Whip from 2005 to 2019 and is the dean of Colorado’s congressional delegation.
DeGette is recognized as a leading voice in the nation’s health care debate. As a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, DeGettehas played a leading role in overseeing the nation’s health care agencies and the nation’s overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s also led numerous efforts to ensure the nation’s environmental laws are being properly enforced, lower the cost of insulin for millions of Americans and take on the climate crisis.
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Fullerton High School, California
Viet Dinh is a lawyer and a conservative legal scholar who served as an Assistant Attorney General of the United States from 2001 to 2003, under the presidency of George W. Bush. Born in Saigon, in the former South Vietnam, he was the chief architect of the USA PATRIOT Act and is a former member of the Board of Directors of News Corporation.
Class of 1971 | Joseph A. Craig High School, Wisconsin
Russ Feingold is an American lawyer and politician from Wisconsin. He served as a democratic member of the U.S. Senate from 1993-2011. During his time in the U.S. Senate, Feingold gained a reputation as a political maverick with an independent streak. Previously, he was a Wisconsin State Senator in the 27th district. Feingold received the John F. Kennedy Profit in Courage Award for cosponsoring the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which is a piece of campaign finance reform legislation. In 2013, he was selected by Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as a special envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa.
Class of 1997 | St. Louis Park High School, Minnesota
Peggy Flanagan is Minnesota’s 50th Lieutenant Governor, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and currently the country’s highest ranking Native woman elected to executive office. At the center of all her work is making progress for children, working families, communities of color and Indigenous communities, and Minnesotans who have historically been underserved and underrepresented.
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William H. Frist
Class of 1976 | Mongomery Bell Academy, Alabama
William Harrison Frist is an American physician, businessman, conservationist and policymaker who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Frist studied government and health care policy at Princeton University and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School. He trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine, and later founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center.
In his post-Senate career, he serves as chair of the global board of The Nature Conservancy. He is also a founding partner of Frist Cressey Ventures, a special partner and chairman of the Executives Council of the health service investment firm Cressey & Company, and co-chair of the Health Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He currently hosts the A Second Opinion Podcast on the intersection of policy, medicine, and innovation.
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Bob Graham
Class of 1955 | Miami Carol City High School, Florida
Daniel Robert Graham is an American politician and author. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senator from 1987 to 2005. Graham helped found the Democratic Leadership Council and eventually became Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Graham served as co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling and as a member of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and the CIA External Advisory Board. He works at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Florida. He also served as Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism. Through the WMD policy center he advocates for the recommendations in the Commission’s report, “World at Risk.” In 2011, Graham published his first novel, the thriller The Keys to the Kingdom. He has also written three nonfiction books: Workdays: Finding Florida on the Job, Intelligence Matters, and America: The Owner’s Manual.
Thamar E. Harrigan
Class of 2000 | North Miami Beach Senior High School, Florida
Thamar E. Harrigan is the Chief of Staff and White House Liaison of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, a U.S. government agency that helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.
Prior to joining USTDA, Ms. Harrigan served as an international trade attorney, most recently through her own international trade and consulting firm. During the Obama Administration, she was the Senior Advisor for Intergovernmental Relations in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and in that capacity, helped to manage implementation of HUD’s policies, programs and initiatives, while shaping the agency’s interactions with state, local, and tribal governments.
Ms. Harrigan is a co-founder and served as legal counsel of the Haitian Ladies Network, the largest global platform connecting more than 75,000 women and girls of Haitian descent from across the U.S., Haiti, and around the world. She has served as Vice President of Government Relations and Sponsorship for the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT). She was the Secretary General for 2020 G7 Youth Summit for Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) and served as the organization’s Director of Youth Summits.
Ms. Harrigan holds a JD degree from St. Thomas University School of Law, and a LLM in International Business Law degree from the National University of Singapore in a joint program with East China University of Political Science and Law. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Florida. Ms. Harrigan is a licensed attorney in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Rashad Hussain
Class of 1997 | Greenhill School, Texas
Rashad Hussain is an attorney, diplomat, and professor, who currently serves as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. He previously served as associate White House counsel, as U.S. Special Envoy of President Barack Obama to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the U.S. Special Envoy for strategic counterterrorism communications. Hussain has also served on the United States National Security Council and in the Department of Justice as a trial attorney and a criminal and national security prosecutor.
Rashad was a member of Greenhill High School’s nationally recognized policy-debate team, partnering with Josh Goldberg, to win the Texas state debate championship and a number of national competitions.
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Class of 1955 | Miami Carol City High School, Florida
Daniel Robert Graham is an American politician and author. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senator from 1987 to 2005. Graham helped found the Democratic Leadership Council and eventually became Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Graham served as co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling and as a member of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and the CIA External Advisory Board. He works at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Florida. He also served as Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism. Through the WMD policy center he advocates for the recommendations in the Commission’s report, “World at Risk.” In 2011, Graham published his first novel, the thriller The Keys to the Kingdom. He has also written three nonfiction books: Workdays: Finding Florida on the Job, Intelligence Matters, and America: The Owner’s Manual.
Class of 2000 | North Miami Beach Senior High School, Florida
Thamar E. Harrigan is the Chief of Staff and White House Liaison of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, a U.S. government agency that helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.
Prior to joining USTDA, Ms. Harrigan served as an international trade attorney, most recently through her own international trade and consulting firm. During the Obama Administration, she was the Senior Advisor for Intergovernmental Relations in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and in that capacity, helped to manage implementation of HUD’s policies, programs and initiatives, while shaping the agency’s interactions with state, local, and tribal governments.
Ms. Harrigan is a co-founder and served as legal counsel of the Haitian Ladies Network, the largest global platform connecting more than 75,000 women and girls of Haitian descent from across the U.S., Haiti, and around the world. She has served as Vice President of Government Relations and Sponsorship for the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT). She was the Secretary General for 2020 G7 Youth Summit for Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) and served as the organization’s Director of Youth Summits.
Ms. Harrigan holds a JD degree from St. Thomas University School of Law, and a LLM in International Business Law degree from the National University of Singapore in a joint program with East China University of Political Science and Law. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Florida. Ms. Harrigan is a licensed attorney in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Class of 1976 | Mongomery Bell Academy, Alabama
William Harrison Frist is an American physician, businessman, conservationist and policymaker who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Frist studied government and health care policy at Princeton University and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School. He trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine, and later founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center.
In his post-Senate career, he serves as chair of the global board of The Nature Conservancy. He is also a founding partner of Frist Cressey Ventures, a special partner and chairman of the Executives Council of the health service investment firm Cressey & Company, and co-chair of the Health Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He currently hosts the A Second Opinion Podcast on the intersection of policy, medicine, and innovation.
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Class of 1997 | Greenhill School, Texas
Rashad Hussain is an attorney, diplomat, and professor, who currently serves as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. He previously served as associate White House counsel, as U.S. Special Envoy of President Barack Obama to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the U.S. Special Envoy for strategic counterterrorism communications. Hussain has also served on the United States National Security Council and in the Department of Justice as a trial attorney and a criminal and national security prosecutor.
Rashad was a member of Greenhill High School’s nationally recognized policy-debate team, partnering with Josh Goldberg, to win the Texas state debate championship and a number of national competitions.
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Megan Jones
Class of 2005 | Spencer High School, Iowa
Megan Jones is a Member of the Iowa House of Representatives from the 6th district. Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in Law, Politics, and Society from Drake University and went on to earn her JD degree from William Mitchell College of Law.
Jones became a Republican member of the Iowa House of Representatives in 2012 and, at 26 years old, was one of the three youngest legislators in the House.
Jones serves on the following committees: Agriculture, Environmental Protection, Judiciary, and Ways and Means.
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Colin Kahl
Class of 1989 | John F. Kennedy High School, California
Colin Kahl is a political scientist who served as under secretary of defense for policy in the Biden administration from 2021 – 2023. Previously, he served as national security advisor to the vice president under then-Vice President Joe Biden (2014–2017). After the Obama administration, Kahl served as a Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford University.
In the Obama administration, Kahl was involved in the negotiations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
In 2023, Kahl returned to his role as professor at Stanford University and most recently joined the Truman Naitonal Security Project’s board of Directors.
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Kevin Kiley
Class of 2003 | Granite Bay High School, California
Kevin Kiley is a politician, attorney, and former educator serving as the U.S. representative for California’s 3rd congressional district since 2023. He represented the 6th district in the California State Assembly from 2016 to 2022. Kiley was a candidate to replace California governor Gavin Newsom in the voter-initiated recall election on September 14, 2021.
Kiley graduated from Harvard University in 2007 and became a teacher for Teach for America upon graduation, teaching for two years at Manual Arts High School and starting an award-winning speech and debate team. Kevin also holds a law degree from Yale and a master’s in secondary education from Loyola Marymount, where he participated in speech and debate.
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Richard Lugar
Shortridge High School, IN
Richard Lugar served as a United States senator, representing Indiana from 1977 to 2013. During Lugar’s tenure, he served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, serving as the ranking member of the committee from 2007 until his departure in 2013. Lugar also twice served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Much of Lugar’s work in the Senate was toward the dismantling of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons around the world.
Following his service in the Senate, Lugar established The Lugar Center, a nonprofit public policy institution that focuses on global food security, foreign aid effectiveness, bipartisan governance, and WMD nonproliferation.
Since 2021, the Congressional Senate Debate Final Round has been named after Richard Lugar. Learn more »
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Class of 2005 | Spencer High School, Iowa
Megan Jones is a Member of the Iowa House of Representatives from the 6th district. Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in Law, Politics, and Society from Drake University and went on to earn her JD degree from William Mitchell College of Law.
Jones became a Republican member of the Iowa House of Representatives in 2012 and, at 26 years old, was one of the three youngest legislators in the House.
Jones serves on the following committees: Agriculture, Environmental Protection, Judiciary, and Ways and Means.
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Class of 2003 | Granite Bay High School, California
Kevin Kiley is a politician, attorney, and former educator serving as the U.S. representative for California’s 3rd congressional district since 2023. He represented the 6th district in the California State Assembly from 2016 to 2022. Kiley was a candidate to replace California governor Gavin Newsom in the voter-initiated recall election on September 14, 2021.
Kiley graduated from Harvard University in 2007 and became a teacher for Teach for America upon graduation, teaching for two years at Manual Arts High School and starting an award-winning speech and debate team. Kevin also holds a law degree from Yale and a master’s in secondary education from Loyola Marymount, where he participated in speech and debate.
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Shortridge High School, IN
Richard Lugar served as a United States senator, representing Indiana from 1977 to 2013. During Lugar’s tenure, he served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, serving as the ranking member of the committee from 2007 until his departure in 2013. Lugar also twice served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Much of Lugar’s work in the Senate was toward the dismantling of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons around the world.
Following his service in the Senate, Lugar established The Lugar Center, a nonprofit public policy institution that focuses on global food security, foreign aid effectiveness, bipartisan governance, and WMD nonproliferation.
Since 2021, the Congressional Senate Debate Final Round has been named after Richard Lugar. Learn more »
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Class of 1989 | John F. Kennedy High School, California
Colin Kahl is a political scientist who served as under secretary of defense for policy in the Biden administration from 2021 – 2023. Previously, he served as national security advisor to the vice president under then-Vice President Joe Biden (2014–2017). After the Obama administration, Kahl served as a Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford University.
In the Obama administration, Kahl was involved in the negotiations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
In 2023, Kahl returned to his role as professor at Stanford University and most recently joined the Truman Naitonal Security Project’s board of Directors.
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Dr. Michael McFaul
Class of 1981 | Bozeman High School, Montana
Dr. Michael McFaul is an American academic who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. Prior to his nomination to the ambassadorial position, McFaul worked for the U.S. National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and senior director of Russian and Eurasian affairs. After his tenure as ambassador in Moscow, McFaul returned to Stanford University as a professor of political science.
In high school debate, McFaul advocated for a repeal of the Jackson–Vanik amendment to the 1974 Trade Act to increase trade between the Soviet Union and America. Thirty years later, McFaul was part of the team that accomplished that goal.
Farah Pandith
Class of 1986 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Farah Pandith is an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, foreign policy strategist, and former diplomat. Pandith, a pioneer in the field of countering violent extremism, has been a political appointee in the George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama administrations. She left government in early 2014 for Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where she maintains an affiliation. She served on the secretary of homeland security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2015 to 2017.
Her book, How We Win: How Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries, Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist Threat, was published in 2019.
Pandith was appointed the first special representative to Muslim communities in June 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, serving under both Clinton and John Kerry. In January 2013, she was awarded the Secretary’s Distinguished Honor Award.
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Janet Reno
Coral Gables High School, Florida
Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) served as the Attorney General of the United States from 1993 until 2001. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11, 1993. She was the first woman to serve as Attorney General and the second-longest serving Attorney General in U.S. history, after William Wirt. Reno was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and attended Coral Gables High School. After leaving to attend Cornell University and Harvard Law School, she returned to Miami where she started her career at private law firms. Her first foray into government was as a staff member for the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives. She then worked for the Dade County State Attorney’s Office before returning to private practice. She was elected to the Office of State Attorney five times.
Tom Ridge
Class of 1963 | Erie-Cathedral High School, Pennsylvania
Thomas Ridge is a politician and author who served in the George W. Bush administration as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003 and as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. He was the first person to hold either office.
Ridge previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 and as the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001. He also authored a book in 2009 entitled, The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege…and How We Can Be Safe Again.
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Class of 1981 | Bozeman High School, Montana
Dr. Michael McFaul is an American academic who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. Prior to his nomination to the ambassadorial position, McFaul worked for the U.S. National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and senior director of Russian and Eurasian affairs. After his tenure as ambassador in Moscow, McFaul returned to Stanford University as a professor of political science.
In high school debate, McFaul advocated for a repeal of the Jackson–Vanik amendment to the 1974 Trade Act to increase trade between the Soviet Union and America. Thirty years later, McFaul was part of the team that accomplished that goal.
Coral Gables High School, Florida
Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) served as the Attorney General of the United States from 1993 until 2001. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11, 1993. She was the first woman to serve as Attorney General and the second-longest serving Attorney General in U.S. history, after William Wirt. Reno was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and attended Coral Gables High School. After leaving to attend Cornell University and Harvard Law School, she returned to Miami where she started her career at private law firms. Her first foray into government was as a staff member for the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives. She then worked for the Dade County State Attorney’s Office before returning to private practice. She was elected to the Office of State Attorney five times.
Class of 1963 | Erie-Cathedral High School, Pennsylvania
Thomas Ridge is a politician and author who served in the George W. Bush administration as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003 and as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. He was the first person to hold either office.
Ridge previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 and as the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001. He also authored a book in 2009 entitled, The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege…and How We Can Be Safe Again.
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Class of 1986 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Farah Pandith is an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, foreign policy strategist, and former diplomat. Pandith, a pioneer in the field of countering violent extremism, has been a political appointee in the George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama administrations. She left government in early 2014 for Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where she maintains an affiliation. She served on the secretary of homeland security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2015 to 2017.
Her book, How We Win: How Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries, Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist Threat, was published in 2019.
Pandith was appointed the first special representative to Muslim communities in June 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, serving under both Clinton and John Kerry. In January 2013, she was awarded the Secretary’s Distinguished Honor Award.
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Terri Sewell
Class of 1982 | Selma High School, Alabama
Terri A. Sewell is an American politician, elected in 2010 as the U.S. Representative for Alabama’s 7th congressional district. A native of Selma, Sewell was the first black valedictorian of Selma High School, where she was coached by the great William Woods Tate, Jr. She is a graduate of Princeton University, Harvard Law School, and Oxford University and is a public finance attorney. Sewell is a member of the Democratic Party and the first black woman elected to Congress from Alabama.
Megan Srinivas
Class of 2005 | Fort Dodge High School, Iowa
Megan L. Srinivas is a politician and physician who serves as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives for the 30th district.
Srinivas earned a Doctor of Medicine from the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa and a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also completed an internal medicine residency at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and an infectious disease fellowship at the UNC School of Medicine.
Megan remained at Chapel Hill as an infectious disease researcher and clinical instructor until she was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in November 2022
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Jake Sullivan
Class of 1994 | Southwest High School, MN
Jake Sullivan is an American political advisor who currently serves as the United States National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden. He was previously Director of Policy to President Barack Obama, National Security Advisor to then Vice President Biden and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. Department of State. Sullivan also served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. federal government at the Iran nuclear negotiations and Senior Policy Advisor to Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, as well as visiting professor at Yale Law School.
In high school, Jake was a Coca-Cola Scholar, debate champion, president of the student council, and voted “most likely to succeed” in his class. He went on to earn a Truman Scholarship as a junior at Yale University and competed with the Yale Debate Association.
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Elizabeth Warren
Class of 1966 | Northwest Classen High School, Oklahoma
Elizabeth Ann Warren is an academic and politician. She is senior United States Senator from Massachusetts. Warren was formerly a professor of law and taught at the University of Texas School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and most recently at Harvard Law School. A prominent scholar specializing in bankruptcy law, Warren was among the most cited in the field of commercial law before starting her political career. Warren is a leading figure in the Democratic Party and is popular among American progressives.
IN HER WORDS | In this video, Warren explains how her experience with speech and debate taught her valuable skills.
Class of 1982 | Selma High School, Alabama
Terri A. Sewell is an American politician, elected in 2010 as the U.S. Representative for Alabama’s 7th congressional district. A native of Selma, Sewell was the first black valedictorian of Selma High School, where she was coached by the great William Woods Tate, Jr. She is a graduate of Princeton University, Harvard Law School, and Oxford University and is a public finance attorney. Sewell is a member of the Democratic Party and the first black woman elected to Congress from Alabama.
Class of 2005 | Fort Dodge High School, Iowa
Megan L. Srinivas is a politician and physician who serves as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives for the 30th district.
Srinivas earned a Doctor of Medicine from the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa and a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also completed an internal medicine residency at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and an infectious disease fellowship at the UNC School of Medicine.
Megan remained at Chapel Hill as an infectious disease researcher and clinical instructor until she was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in November 2022
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Class of 1994 | Southwest High School, MN
Jake Sullivan is an American political advisor who currently serves as the United States National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden. He was previously Director of Policy to President Barack Obama, National Security Advisor to then Vice President Biden and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. Department of State. Sullivan also served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. federal government at the Iran nuclear negotiations and Senior Policy Advisor to Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, as well as visiting professor at Yale Law School.
In high school, Jake was a Coca-Cola Scholar, debate champion, president of the student council, and voted “most likely to succeed” in his class. He went on to earn a Truman Scholarship as a junior at Yale University and competed with the Yale Debate Association.
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Class of 1966 | Northwest Classen High School, Oklahoma
Elizabeth Ann Warren is an academic and politician. She is senior United States Senator from Massachusetts. Warren was formerly a professor of law and taught at the University of Texas School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and most recently at Harvard Law School. A prominent scholar specializing in bankruptcy law, Warren was among the most cited in the field of commercial law before starting her political career. Warren is a leading figure in the Democratic Party and is popular among American progressives.
IN HER WORDS | In this video, Warren explains how her experience with speech and debate taught her valuable skills.
Government
Adam Zabner
Class of 2017 | Iowa City High School, Iowa
Adam Zabner is a politician who serves as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives for the 90th district. In 2021, he graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. In 2019, he became an organizing intern, and between 2019 and 2020 an organizer for the campaign of Pete Buttigieg. He then served as regional organizing director for the Iowa Democratic Party.
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Josh McLaurin
Class of 2006| Westminster School, Georgia
Joshua Ivan McLaurin is a member of the Georgia State Senate. McLaurin represents the 14th district in the State Senate, a seat once held by Jimmy Carter. Before his election to the State Senate, McLaurin served two terms in the Georgia House of Representatives.
McLaurin earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Georgia and a law degree from Yale University.
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Class of 2017 | Iowa City High School, Iowa
Adam Zabner is a politician who serves as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives for the 90th district. In 2021, he graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. In 2019, he became an organizing intern, and between 2019 and 2020 an organizer for the campaign of Pete Buttigieg. He then served as regional organizing director for the Iowa Democratic Party.
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Class of 2006| Westminster School, Georgia
Joshua Ivan McLaurin is a member of the Georgia State Senate. McLaurin represents the 14th district in the State Senate, a seat once held by Jimmy Carter. Before his election to the State Senate, McLaurin served two terms in the Georgia House of Representatives.
McLaurin earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Georgia and a law degree from Yale University.
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Law
Samuel Alito
Class of 1968 | Trenton Hamilton East High School, New Jersey
Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1975, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. He was nominated to the Court by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006. Alito is considered one of the most conservative justices on the Court and has described himself as a “practical originalist.” Alito’s majority opinions in landmark cases include McDonald v. Chicago and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.
IN HIS WORDS | Read this letter written by Justice Alito about his time in debate, courtesy of Tara L. Tate.
Preet Bharara
Class of 1986 | Ranney School, New Jersey
Preet Bharara is a lawyer, podcast host, and author. He served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017, earning a reputation of a “crusader” prosecutor. Under his leadership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York prosecuted nearly 100 Wall Street executives for insider trading and other offenses. In 2019, he released a book entitled Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law.
Lisa Blatt
Class of 1993 | Bellaire-Houston High School, Texas
Lisa Blatt heads the Appellate and Supreme Court practice at Arnold & Porter. Blatt has argued 35 cases before the Supreme Court, prevailing in 33. She has argued in front of the Supreme Court more than any other female litigator in the country. The National Law Journal called her a “visionary” and one of “the 100 most influential lawyers in America.” The Washingtonian has listed her as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Washington” four times, and Chambers USA has noted her “meticulous oral argument preparation and ‘great presence before the court.'” Her oral advocacy is cited as exemplary in the Supreme Court Clerk’s Guide for Counsel.
Josh Branson
Class of 2002 | St. Mark’s School of Texas, Texas
Josh Branson is a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick PLLC. Josh specializes in complex civil litigation, with particular experience in securities, antitrust, telecommunications, and anti-terrorism cases. While at the firm, he has delivered oral argument in multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals and has represented clients throughout all phases of district-court and appellate litigation. Prior to joining Kellogg Hansen, Josh served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diana Gribbon Motz on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was a research assistant to legendary debater Professor Laurence Tribe.
Josh was a national champion debater in both high school and college. In high school, he won the 2002 National Forensic League (now NSDA) national championship in Policy Debate. In 2005, debating for Northwestern University, he won the National Debate Tournament. In 2006, he was named top speaker of the National Debate Tournament and set what was then a record for the highest speaker points awarded in the history of that tournament.
Class of 1968 | Trenton Hamilton East High School, New Jersey
Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1975, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. He was nominated to the Court by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006. Alito is considered one of the most conservative justices on the Court and has described himself as a “practical originalist.” Alito’s majority opinions in landmark cases include McDonald v. Chicago and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.
IN HIS WORDS | Read this letter written by Justice Alito about his time in debate, courtesy of Tara L. Tate.
Class of 1986 | Ranney School, New Jersey
Preet Bharara is a lawyer, podcast host, and author. He served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017, earning a reputation of a “crusader” prosecutor. Under his leadership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York prosecuted nearly 100 Wall Street executives for insider trading and other offenses. In 2019, he released a book entitled Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law.
Class of 2002 | St. Mark’s School of Texas, Texas
Josh Branson is a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick PLLC. Josh specializes in complex civil litigation, with particular experience in securities, antitrust, telecommunications, and anti-terrorism cases. While at the firm, he has delivered oral argument in multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals and has represented clients throughout all phases of district-court and appellate litigation. Prior to joining Kellogg Hansen, Josh served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diana Gribbon Motz on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was a research assistant to legendary debater Professor Laurence Tribe.
Josh was a national champion debater in both high school and college. In high school, he won the 2002 National Forensic League (now NSDA) national championship in Policy Debate. In 2005, debating for Northwestern University, he won the National Debate Tournament. In 2006, he was named top speaker of the National Debate Tournament and set what was then a record for the highest speaker points awarded in the history of that tournament.
Class of 1993 | Bellaire-Houston High School, Texas
Lisa Blatt heads the Appellate and Supreme Court practice at Arnold & Porter. Blatt has argued 35 cases before the Supreme Court, prevailing in 33. She has argued in front of the Supreme Court more than any other female litigator in the country. The National Law Journal called her a “visionary” and one of “the 100 most influential lawyers in America.” The Washingtonian has listed her as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Washington” four times, and Chambers USA has noted her “meticulous oral argument preparation and ‘great presence before the court.'” Her oral advocacy is cited as exemplary in the Supreme Court Clerk’s Guide for Counsel.
Stephen Breyer
Class of 1955 | San Francisco-Lowell High School, California
Stephen G. Breyer is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Breyer received an A.B. from Stanford University, a B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford, and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School. President Clinton nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat August 3, 1994. Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court. Breyer has extensive experience in administrative law and is the Court’s leading purposivist—considering, determining, and interpreting the purpose of a statute paramount.
IN HIS WORDS | Read this letter written by Justice Breyer about his time in debate, courtesy of Tara L. Tate.
Paul Clement
Class of 1984 | Cedarburg High School, Wisconsin
Paul Clement is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Paul served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years.
He has argued more than 90 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FEC, Tennessee v. Lane, Rumsfeld v. Padilla, Credit Suisse v. Billing, United States v. Booker, MGM v. Grokster, ABC v. Aereo, and Hobby Lobby v. Burwell. Paul has argued more Supreme Court cases since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government. He has also argued many important cases in the lower courts, including Walker v. Cheney, United States v. Moussaoui, and NFL v. Brady.
Robert J. Feldhake
Class of 1972 | Maine Township East High School, Illinois
Robert J. Feldhake is the President of The Feldhake Law Firm, APC. He specializes in civil litigation, insurance, public agency representation, business dispute resolution, and alternative dispute resolution. In 2015, he received the Martindale Hubbell Top-Rated Lawyer Award. He has also received the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating every year since 2013.
Robert won the Illinois State Debate Championship in 1972 for Maine Township East High School. As a collegiate debater for Augustana College, he was the top speaker of the National Debate Tournament.
David Frederick
Class of 1979 | Thomas Jefferson High School, TX
David Frederick is an appellate attorney and is a partner with Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C. Frederick has argued more than 100 appeals, including 50 in the U.S. Supreme Court, and appeared in every federal court of appeals. Frederick has represented clients across the broadest possible spectrum, including individuals, labor unions, large and small corporations, states, the United States, and foreign governments.
When he graduated from high school, he was the all-time point leader in the history of the National Forensic League, the predecessor to the NSDA. Coached by legendary NSDA Hall of Fame coach Lanny Naegelin, Frederick was second at the National Speech Tournament in Original Oratory in 1977 and second at Nationals in Boys’ Extemp in 1979. His team at Jefferson High School won the national team championship in 1979.
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Class of 1955 | San Francisco-Lowell High School, California
Stephen G. Breyer is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Breyer received an A.B. from Stanford University, a B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford, and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School. President Clinton nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat August 3, 1994. Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court. Breyer has extensive experience in administrative law and is the Court’s leading purposivist—considering, determining, and interpreting the purpose of a statute paramount.
IN HIS WORDS | Read this letter written by Justice Breyer about his time in debate, courtesy of Tara L. Tate.
Class of 1984 | Cedarburg High School, Wisconsin
Paul Clement is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Paul served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years.
He has argued more than 90 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FEC, Tennessee v. Lane, Rumsfeld v. Padilla, Credit Suisse v. Billing, United States v. Booker, MGM v. Grokster, ABC v. Aereo, and Hobby Lobby v. Burwell. Paul has argued more Supreme Court cases since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government. He has also argued many important cases in the lower courts, including Walker v. Cheney, United States v. Moussaoui, and NFL v. Brady.
Class of 1972 | Maine Township East High School, Illinois
Robert J. Feldhake is the President of The Feldhake Law Firm, APC. He specializes in civil litigation, insurance, public agency representation, business dispute resolution, and alternative dispute resolution. In 2015, he received the Martindale Hubbell Top-Rated Lawyer Award. He has also received the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating every year since 2013.
Robert won the Illinois State Debate Championship in 1972 for Maine Township East High School. As a collegiate debater for Augustana College, he was the top speaker of the National Debate Tournament.
Class of 1979 | Thomas Jefferson High School, TX
David Frederick is an appellate attorney and is a partner with Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C. Frederick has argued more than 100 appeals, including 50 in the U.S. Supreme Court, and appeared in every federal court of appeals. Frederick has represented clients across the broadest possible spectrum, including individuals, labor unions, large and small corporations, states, the United States, and foreign governments.
When he graduated from high school, he was the all-time point leader in the history of the National Forensic League, the predecessor to the NSDA. Coached by legendary NSDA Hall of Fame coach Lanny Naegelin, Frederick was second at the National Speech Tournament in Original Oratory in 1977 and second at Nationals in Boys’ Extemp in 1979. His team at Jefferson High School won the national team championship in 1979.
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Thomas Goldstein
Class of 1999 | NSU University School, Florida
Tom Goldstein is an appellate advocate, best known as one of the nation’s most experienced Supreme Court practitioners. He has served as counsel to one of the parties in roughly 10% of all of the Court’s merits cases for the past 15 years (more than 100 in total), personally arguing 41. Only three lawyers in the Court’s modern history have argued more cases in private practice. He has been counsel on more successful petitions for certiorari over the past decade than any other lawyer in private practice. Over the past 15 years, the firm’s petitions for certiorari have been granted at a higher rate than any private law firm or legal clinic.
Lindsay Harrison
Class of 1996 | Greenhill School, Texas
Lindsay Harrison is a Managing Partner at Jenner & Block in the Washington D.C. office. Her personal practice spans a range of industries with a special focus on hospitality and real estate companies, colleges and universities, technology and media companies and nonprofit organizations. Lindsay is also a member of the Appellate & Supreme Court Practice, and regularly represents individuals in high-profile cases implicating human and constitutional rights.
Lindsay has argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and federal Courts of Appeals, and has led lawsuits against or involving the government. She led the Jenner & Block team that won a major victory preserving the DACA program in the U.S. Supreme Court after the government in 2017 attempted to rescind the program.
Lindsay’s advice to speech and debate students wanting to pursue a career in law, “To me, reading prolifically and writing clearly and efficiently are the two best things you can do to become a really skilled lawyer.”
Check out Lindsay’s full Rostrum article » Speak Your Truth and Love What You Do
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Alex Iftimie
Class of 2003 | The Harker School, California
Alex Iftimie is an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he has served in various roles including Counselor to the Attorney General, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. Prior to joining DOJ, he clerked for the Honorable Diana Gribbon Motz on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Alex completed his J.D. at Yale Law School. He received his B.A. in international relations at the University of Southern California, graduating summa cum laude with election to Phi Beta Kappa.
At Yale, he was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of International Law and worked in the Civil Liberties and National Security Clinic. During his law school summers, Alex worked at the White House Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice. He is a recipient of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and a Fellow at the Truman National Security Project. Born in Romania, he came to the United States when he was 12, following the Romanian revolution. He is a naturalized citizen and his family resides in southern California.
Ketanji Brown Jackson
Class of 1988 | Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Florida
Ketanji Brown Jackson is an attorney and the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. She is also the first Supreme Court justice to have served as a public defender. Prior to her role on the Supreme Court, Jackson served as a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia since 2013.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Miami, Florida, Jackson joined speech and debate under coach, Fran Berger. “That was an experience that I can say without hesitation was the one activity that best prepared me for future success in law and in life,” Judge Jackson said in a lecture in 2017. “I learned how to reason and how to write, and I gained the self-confidence that can sometimes be quite difficult for women and minorities to learn at an early age.” Jackson placed sixth in Humorous Interpretation at the National Tournament in 1988.
Class of 1999 | NSU University School, Florida
Tom Goldstein is an appellate advocate, best known as one of the nation’s most experienced Supreme Court practitioners. He has served as counsel to one of the parties in roughly 10% of all of the Court’s merits cases for the past 15 years (more than 100 in total), personally arguing 41. Only three lawyers in the Court’s modern history have argued more cases in private practice. He has been counsel on more successful petitions for certiorari over the past decade than any other lawyer in private practice. Over the past 15 years, the firm’s petitions for certiorari have been granted at a higher rate than any private law firm or legal clinic.
Class of 1996 | Greenhill School, Texas
Lindsay Harrison is a Managing Partner at Jenner & Block in the Washington D.C. office. Her personal practice spans a range of industries with a special focus on hospitality and real estate companies, colleges and universities, technology and media companies and nonprofit organizations. Lindsay is also a member of the Appellate & Supreme Court Practice, and regularly represents individuals in high-profile cases implicating human and constitutional rights.
Lindsay has argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and federal Courts of Appeals, and has led lawsuits against or involving the government. She led the Jenner & Block team that won a major victory preserving the DACA program in the U.S. Supreme Court after the government in 2017 attempted to rescind the program.
Lindsay’s advice to speech and debate students wanting to pursue a career in law, “To me, reading prolifically and writing clearly and efficiently are the two best things you can do to become a really skilled lawyer.”
Check out Lindsay’s full Rostrum article » Speak Your Truth and Love What You Do
Social:
Class of 2003 | The Harker School, California
Alex Iftimie is an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he has served in various roles including Counselor to the Attorney General, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. Prior to joining DOJ, he clerked for the Honorable Diana Gribbon Motz on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Alex completed his J.D. at Yale Law School. He received his B.A. in international relations at the University of Southern California, graduating summa cum laude with election to Phi Beta Kappa.
At Yale, he was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of International Law and worked in the Civil Liberties and National Security Clinic. During his law school summers, Alex worked at the White House Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice. He is a recipient of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and a Fellow at the Truman National Security Project. Born in Romania, he came to the United States when he was 12, following the Romanian revolution. He is a naturalized citizen and his family resides in southern California.
Class of 1988 | Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Florida
Ketanji Brown Jackson is an attorney and the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. She is also the first Supreme Court justice to have served as a public defender. Prior to her role on the Supreme Court, Jackson served as a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia since 2013.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Miami, Florida, Jackson joined speech and debate under coach, Fran Berger. “That was an experience that I can say without hesitation was the one activity that best prepared me for future success in law and in life,” Judge Jackson said in a lecture in 2017. “I learned how to reason and how to write, and I gained the self-confidence that can sometimes be quite difficult for women and minorities to learn at an early age.” Jackson placed sixth in Humorous Interpretation at the National Tournament in 1988.
Neal Katyal
Class of 1987 | Loyola Academy, Illinois
Neal Kumar Katyal is a partner at Hogan Lovells, the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and a former Acting Solicitor General for the United States. In 2017, he presented his 35th Supreme Court argument, breaking Thurgood Marshall’s 50-year-old record to become the minority lawyer with the most oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.
He served as Vice President Al Gore’s co-counsel in Bush v. Gore 2000. He was lead counsel for the Guantanamo Bay detainees in the Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld 2006. The U.S. Justice Department bestowed its highest honor for a civilian to him, the Edmund Randolph Award.
He was a successful high school debater for Loyola Academy (IL) and Dartmouth College (NH).
Leah Litman
Class of 2002 | Edina High School, Minnesotta
Leah Litman is a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School. She teaches and writes on constitutional law, federal courts, and federal post-conviction review.
Litman’s work has appeared or will appear in the California Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Texas Law Review, Duke Law Journal, and Northwestern Law Review, among other journals.
She is one of the co-hosts and co-creators of Strict Scrutiny, a Crooked Media podcast about the US Supreme Court, which received the 2023 Podcast Academy award for Best Politics or Opinion podcast and a 2023 Anthem Award for its coverage of the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade.
Also in 2023, the American Law Institute named Litman a recipient of its Early Career Scholars Medal and the American Constitution Society recognized Litman with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholar Award.
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Anna M. Manasco
Class of 1998 | Saint James School, Alabama
Anna M. Manasco is an attorney and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
From 2009 to 2020, she was a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings where her practice focused on trial strategy and appeals in complex commercial litigation. She had represented clients before the Supreme Court of the United States, numerous federal courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court of Alabama.
Anna was a runner-up of the 1998 Tournament of Champions in Lincoln–Douglas debate. Recently, she participated at the National Speech & Debate Tournament in Phoenix, AZ as a judge. “This is inspiring,” she said. “They are spending their summer learning how to have informed, civil discourse about really controversial and important issues.”
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Katherine Marie Menendez
Class of 1989 | Topeka HS, Kansas
Katherine Marie Menendez is an American attorney serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. She served as a magistrate judge of the same court. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden on September 20, 2021, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 18, 2021, by a vote of 49-21.
As a competitor, Katherine was a state champion in U.S. Extemp and a runner-up in Policy Debate (CX) at Nationals 1989 in Golden, CO.
Class of 1987 | Loyola Academy, Illinois
Neal Kumar Katyal is a partner at Hogan Lovells, the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and a former Acting Solicitor General for the United States. In 2017, he presented his 35th Supreme Court argument, breaking Thurgood Marshall’s 50-year-old record to become the minority lawyer with the most oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.
He served as Vice President Al Gore’s co-counsel in Bush v. Gore 2000. He was lead counsel for the Guantanamo Bay detainees in the Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld 2006. The U.S. Justice Department bestowed its highest honor for a civilian to him, the Edmund Randolph Award.
He was a successful high school debater for Loyola Academy (IL) and Dartmouth College (NH).
Class of 2002 | Edina High School, Minnesotta
Leah Litman is a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School. She teaches and writes on constitutional law, federal courts, and federal post-conviction review.
Litman’s work has appeared or will appear in the California Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Texas Law Review, Duke Law Journal, and Northwestern Law Review, among other journals.
She is one of the co-hosts and co-creators of Strict Scrutiny, a Crooked Media podcast about the US Supreme Court, which received the 2023 Podcast Academy award for Best Politics or Opinion podcast and a 2023 Anthem Award for its coverage of the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade.
Also in 2023, the American Law Institute named Litman a recipient of its Early Career Scholars Medal and the American Constitution Society recognized Litman with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholar Award.
Social:
Class of 1998 | Saint James School, Alabama
Anna M. Manasco is an attorney and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
From 2009 to 2020, she was a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings where her practice focused on trial strategy and appeals in complex commercial litigation. She had represented clients before the Supreme Court of the United States, numerous federal courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court of Alabama.
Anna was a runner-up of the 1998 Tournament of Champions in Lincoln–Douglas debate. Recently, she participated at the National Speech & Debate Tournament in Phoenix, AZ as a judge. “This is inspiring,” she said. “They are spending their summer learning how to have informed, civil discourse about really controversial and important issues.”
Links:
Class of 1989 | Topeka HS, Kansas
Katherine Marie Menendez is an American attorney serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. She served as a magistrate judge of the same court. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden on September 20, 2021, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 18, 2021, by a vote of 49-21.
As a competitor, Katherine was a state champion in U.S. Extemp and a runner-up in Policy Debate (CX) at Nationals 1989 in Golden, CO.
Melissa Murray
Class of 1993 | Lincoln Park Academy High School, Florida
Melissa Murray is an academic and legal scholar and the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at New York University. Following law school, Melissa clerked for Sonia Sotomayor and Stafan R. Underhill. She was the only African American clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Prior to her tenure at NYU, Murray taught at UC Berkeley where she was appointed faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, the United States’ first law school think tank to focus on reproductive rights and justice issues.
Since 2019, Murray has co-hosted the podcast Strict Scrutiny, which focuses on SCOTUS and its legal culture.
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David Sklansky
Class of 1977 | Corona del Mar High School, California
David Alan Sklansky is the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he teaches and writes about criminal law, criminal procedure, and the law of evidence, and serves as a faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Biophysics in 1981 and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984. He clerked for Judge Abner J. Mikva of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court. After practicing labor law at Bredhoff & Kaiser in Washington, D.C., he spent seven years as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and then taught law at UCLA and U.C. Berkeley. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2014.
He was a member of the speech and debate team at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California. During college, he taught at the Golden West Forensic Institute at the University of Redlands and was an assistant debate coach at John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond, California.
Sonia Sotomayor
Class of 1972 | Cardinal Spellman High School, New York
Sonia Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. She has the distinction of being its first justice of Hispanic heritage, the first Latina, its third female justice, and its twelfth Roman Catholic justice. Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New Yorkby President George H. W. Bush in 1991; confirmation followed in 1992. In 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice David Souter.
Download this poster featuring Sonia Sotomayor in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month!
Mark E. Windham
Class of 1976 | Van Nuys High School, California
Judge Mark E. Windham attended UC Berkeley, where he debated on the NDT circuit. He coached and judged throughout college and was a teaching assistant in speech and debate classes at the university. In 1983, he graduated from UC Hastings Law School and practiced law for 24 years. Windham became a Deputy Public Defender, specializing in death penalty defense and scientific evidence, in particular forensic DNA testing, frequently writing and speaking on the subjects. In 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to the bench. Since then, he has served as Judge of the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles and now supervises the criminal judges in the West District of Los Angeles County.
IN HIS WORDS | “I competed in speech and debate from 1974 to 1976 and made nationals in 1976. With a sense of gratitude for what I received, I am giving back to speech and debate: four years ago I started a speech and debate program at New Roads School in Santa Monica. It is gratifying to see the students learn; their tremendous success has been a plus. Our program continues to grow. High school speech and debate competitors impress me by their effort and commitment; this was instrumental to my own professional success; I assure you that it will contribute greatly to your own.”
Class of 1993 | Lincoln Park Academy High School, Florida
Melissa Murray is an academic and legal scholar and the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at New York University. Following law school, Melissa clerked for Sonia Sotomayor and Stafan R. Underhill. She was the only African American clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Prior to her tenure at NYU, Murray taught at UC Berkeley where she was appointed faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, the United States’ first law school think tank to focus on reproductive rights and justice issues.
Since 2019, Murray has co-hosted the podcast Strict Scrutiny, which focuses on SCOTUS and its legal culture.
Links:
Social Handles:
Class of 1977 | Corona del Mar High School, California
David Alan Sklansky is the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he teaches and writes about criminal law, criminal procedure, and the law of evidence, and serves as a faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Biophysics in 1981 and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984. He clerked for Judge Abner J. Mikva of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court. After practicing labor law at Bredhoff & Kaiser in Washington, D.C., he spent seven years as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and then taught law at UCLA and U.C. Berkeley. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2014.
He was a member of the speech and debate team at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California. During college, he taught at the Golden West Forensic Institute at the University of Redlands and was an assistant debate coach at John F. Kennedy High School in Richmond, California.
Class of 1972 | Cardinal Spellman High School, New York
Sonia Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. She has the distinction of being its first justice of Hispanic heritage, the first Latina, its third female justice, and its twelfth Roman Catholic justice. Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New Yorkby President George H. W. Bush in 1991; confirmation followed in 1992. In 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice David Souter.
Download this poster featuring Sonia Sotomayor in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month!
Class of 1976 | Van Nuys High School, California
Judge Mark E. Windham attended UC Berkeley, where he debated on the NDT circuit. He coached and judged throughout college and was a teaching assistant in speech and debate classes at the university. In 1983, he graduated from UC Hastings Law School and practiced law for 24 years. Windham became a Deputy Public Defender, specializing in death penalty defense and scientific evidence, in particular forensic DNA testing, frequently writing and speaking on the subjects. In 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to the bench. Since then, he has served as Judge of the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles and now supervises the criminal judges in the West District of Los Angeles County.
IN HIS WORDS | “I competed in speech and debate from 1974 to 1976 and made nationals in 1976. With a sense of gratitude for what I received, I am giving back to speech and debate: four years ago I started a speech and debate program at New Roads School in Santa Monica. It is gratifying to see the students learn; their tremendous success has been a plus. Our program continues to grow. High school speech and debate competitors impress me by their effort and commitment; this was instrumental to my own professional success; I assure you that it will contribute greatly to your own.”
Law
Karl Austen
Class of 1982 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Karl obtained his J.D. with honors in 1989 from Harvard Law School and associated with the firm of Gipson Hoffman & Pancione, where he practiced entertainment law. Karl joined the firm formerly known as Armstrong Hirsch in 1994, where he continues to represent actors, writers, directors and producers in the motion picture and television industries. In 2004, Karl became a name partner of the firm, currently called Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. He is currently CEO and Managing Partner of the firm.
Karl was selected to Super Lawyers for 2020 – 2024. This peer designation is awarded only to a select number of accomplished attorneys in each state. The Super Lawyers selection process takes into account peer recognition, professional achievement in legal practice, and other cogent factors.
Cyrus Ghavi
Class of 2022 | Milton Academy, Georgia
Cyrus Ghavi joined the NFL as an assistant counsel in 2013 and has since risen through the ranks of the legal department to become associate counsel, counsel, and, most recently, senior counsel. In his current role, he advises and supports stakeholders of the league’s thirty-two teams on a wide range of matters, including finance and governance, stadium projects and leases, and team ownership policy, and transactions. He also supports the NFL owners’ Finance and Stadium Committees.
An avid debate team member in high school and college, a young Ghavi participated in 15 to 20 tournaments a year, traveling frequently and fine-tuning his ability to see and argue all sides of an issue. While attending Emory University, Cyrus was the President of the Barkley Forum Debate Society.
Social Handles:
Stuart Delery
Class of 1986 | Isidore Newman School, LA
Stuart Frank Delery is an American attorney who served as the White House Counsel, from July 2022 to September 2023 succeeding Dana Remus.
Previously, Delery had served as Deputy Counsel to the President in the Biden administration, announced in December 2020. Prior to that, he was the Acting United States Associate Attorney General from 2014 to 2016.
Jeff Joseph
Class of 1990 | Jesuit High School, Florida
Jeff Joseph is a graduate of the University of Denver, College of Law. He is on the advisory council of the Federal Bar Association Immigration Law Section and is Vice President of the Colorado Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Joseph currently serves on the national liaison committee between U.S. Citizenship and the United States Department of Labor. In 2004, he received the Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award from the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Mr. Joseph was named Immigration Lawyer of the Year in the USA in 2016 from Corporate LiveWire. Joseph Law Firm, P.C. has also been ranked as a Tier 1 law firm in the field of Immigration Law by U.S. News and World Reports. Mr. Joseph has represented clients before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and the Circuit Courts of Appeals, and has published several opinions in those courts. He is an adjunct professor of immigration law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He currently serves as Secretary of the Joseph Family Foundation and as assistant debate coach for Kent Denver High School.
Class of 1982 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Karl obtained his J.D. with honors in 1989 from Harvard Law School and associated with the firm of Gipson Hoffman & Pancione, where he practiced entertainment law. Karl joined the firm formerly known as Armstrong Hirsch in 1994, where he continues to represent actors, writers, directors and producers in the motion picture and television industries. In 2004, Karl became a name partner of the firm, currently called Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. He is currently CEO and Managing Partner of the firm.
Karl was selected to Super Lawyers for 2020 – 2024. This peer designation is awarded only to a select number of accomplished attorneys in each state. The Super Lawyers selection process takes into account peer recognition, professional achievement in legal practice, and other cogent factors.
Class of 2022 | Milton Academy, Georgia
Cyrus Ghavi joined the NFL as an assistant counsel in 2013 and has since risen through the ranks of the legal department to become associate counsel, counsel, and, most recently, senior counsel. In his current role, he advises and supports stakeholders of the league’s thirty-two teams on a wide range of matters, including finance and governance, stadium projects and leases, and team ownership policy, and transactions. He also supports the NFL owners’ Finance and Stadium Committees.
An avid debate team member in high school and college, a young Ghavi participated in 15 to 20 tournaments a year, traveling frequently and fine-tuning his ability to see and argue all sides of an issue. While attending Emory University, Cyrus was the President of the Barkley Forum Debate Society.
Social Handles:
Class of 1986 | Isidore Newman School, LA
Stuart Frank Delery is an American attorney who served as the White House Counsel, from July 2022 to September 2023 succeeding Dana Remus.
Previously, Delery had served as Deputy Counsel to the President in the Biden administration, announced in December 2020. Prior to that, he was the Acting United States Associate Attorney General from 2014 to 2016.
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Class of 1990 | Jesuit High School, Florida
Jeff Joseph is a graduate of the University of Denver, College of Law. He is on the advisory council of the Federal Bar Association Immigration Law Section and is Vice President of the Colorado Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Joseph currently serves on the national liaison committee between U.S. Citizenship and the United States Department of Labor. In 2004, he received the Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award from the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Mr. Joseph was named Immigration Lawyer of the Year in the USA in 2016 from Corporate LiveWire. Joseph Law Firm, P.C. has also been ranked as a Tier 1 law firm in the field of Immigration Law by U.S. News and World Reports. Mr. Joseph has represented clients before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and the Circuit Courts of Appeals, and has published several opinions in those courts. He is an adjunct professor of immigration law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He currently serves as Secretary of the Joseph Family Foundation and as assistant debate coach for Kent Denver High School.
Grace Mead
Class of 1994 | Caddo Parish Magnet High School, Louisiana
Grace Mead is a complex commercial litigator and shareholder at Stearns Weaver Miller in Miami, Florida. Grace attended Dartmouth College, where she continued to compete in debate. She later graduated with High Honors, Order of the Coif, from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She then clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and was an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Since, at Stearns Weaver, from 2007 to 2017, she represented BBX Capital Corporation and its Chairman and CEO Alan Levan, which owned the 100-branch Florida bank BankAtlantic in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and then enforcement action alleging BBX had concealed loan risks. A six-week jury trial and split verdict in 2014, a successful appeal to the Eleventh Circuit in 2016, and a second six-week jury trial in 2017 resulted in a verdict and judgment for BBX and Mr. Levan rejecting every claim asserted by the SEC. She currently represents Florida pubic college and university donors, recent graduates, and proposed classes of donors, students, and recent graduates in a lawsuit to compel payment of more than $1 billion owed to Florida’s public colleges, universities, and their students.
Lindsey Poker
Class of 2004 | Apple Valley High School, Minnesota
Lindsey Poker has more than 10 years of experience in legal, procurement, and consumer/creditor rights. Lindsey spent five years at a law firm in a variety of roles and a short stint in sports journalism reporting on the Minnesota Twins. Lindsey joined U.S. Bank as a contract negotiator in March 2011. She was promoted to Vice President and Senior Procurement Manager in 2013 where she was responsible for the strategic sourcing department and the vendor management at U.S. Bank. She now serves as the Vice President-Region Operations Manager for the Inland Desert area overseeing compliance and operations for approximately 60 branches.
She received a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Drake University, an MBA from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management, and a juris doctor from William Mitchell College of Law.
Speech and debate has always played a major role in Lindsey’s life. She spent five years coaching at Apple Valley High School and attributes most of her career success to the public speaking and critical thinking skills she learned through speech and debate. More importantly, Lindsey met her husband through the AVHS speech and debate program.
Victoria Suarez-Palomo
Class of 2001 | Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart, Florida
Victoria Suarez-Palomo has spent more than ten years in public service in Washington, D.C., as a senior policy and strategic communications advisor. She served in the Obama Administration for seven years. First, as a Special Assistant to Gene Sperling then-Counselor to Secretary Geithner at the Treasury Department working to stem the financial crisis and later as Treasury’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Business Affairs and Public Liaison.
In her own words: “I started the debate team at my high school and it is the single best thing I have ever done! Speech and debate taught me how to use my voice and inspired me to pursue a career in Public Policy.”
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Class of 2004 | Apple Valley High School, Minnesota
Lindsey Poker has more than 10 years of experience in legal, procurement, and consumer/creditor rights. Lindsey spent five years at a law firm in a variety of roles and a short stint in sports journalism reporting on the Minnesota Twins. Lindsey joined U.S. Bank as a contract negotiator in March 2011. She was promoted to Vice President and Senior Procurement Manager in 2013 where she was responsible for the strategic sourcing department and the vendor management at U.S. Bank. She now serves as the Vice President-Region Operations Manager for the Inland Desert area overseeing compliance and operations for approximately 60 branches.
She received a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Drake University, an MBA from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management, and a juris doctor from William Mitchell College of Law.
Speech and debate has always played a major role in Lindsey’s life. She spent five years coaching at Apple Valley High School and attributes most of her career success to the public speaking and critical thinking skills she learned through speech and debate. More importantly, Lindsey met her husband through the AVHS speech and debate program.
Class of 1994 | Caddo Parish Magnet High School, Louisiana
Grace Mead is a complex commercial litigator and shareholder at Stearns Weaver Miller in Miami, Florida. Grace attended Dartmouth College, where she continued to compete in debate. She later graduated with High Honors, Order of the Coif, from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She then clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and was an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Since, at Stearns Weaver, from 2007 to 2017, she represented BBX Capital Corporation and its Chairman and CEO Alan Levan, which owned the 100-branch Florida bank BankAtlantic in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and then enforcement action alleging BBX had concealed loan risks. A six-week jury trial and split verdict in 2014, a successful appeal to the Eleventh Circuit in 2016, and a second six-week jury trial in 2017 resulted in a verdict and judgment for BBX and Mr. Levan rejecting every claim asserted by the SEC. She currently represents Florida pubic college and university donors, recent graduates, and proposed classes of donors, students, and recent graduates in a lawsuit to compel payment of more than $1 billion owed to Florida’s public colleges, universities, and their students.
Class of 2001 | Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart, Florida
Victoria Suarez-Palomo has spent more than ten years in public service in Washington, D.C., as a senior policy and strategic communications advisor. She served in the Obama Administration for seven years. First, as a Special Assistant to Gene Sperling then-Counselor to Secretary Geithner at the Treasury Department working to stem the financial crisis and later as Treasury’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Business Affairs and Public Liaison.
In her own words: “I started the debate team at my high school and it is the single best thing I have ever done! Speech and debate taught me how to use my voice and inspired me to pursue a career in Public Policy.”
Social Links:
Technology
Kevin Allocca
Class of 2002 | St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida
Kevin Allocca is an author and technology professional and is currently the Head of Culture & Trends at YouTube, where he tracks popular video phenomena and manages trending content initiatives. He is YouTube’s expert on the intersection of web video and global culture, and is often cited in the press on subjects of virality, popularity, and breaking news. His TED Talk on “Why Videos Go Viral” has been watched more than two million times, and he has been a keynote speaker at festivals and industry events all over the world. His book Videocracy, which explores YouTube’s most interesting trends and the impact of video on our culture, was published by Bloomsbury in January 2018. He is an alumnus of Boston College and lives and works in New York City.
Michael Biddick
Class of 1992 | Greendale High School, Wisconsin
Michael is the founder and CEO of Fusion PPT, one of the fastest growing technology firms in the country and a best place to work in the Washington, D.C. area. Prior to founding Fusion PPT, Michael was with Booz Allen Hamilton and served on the academic staff of the University of Wisconsin Law School. As one of the industry’s leading Information Technology experts, Michael has assisted some of the largest organizations across the globe utilize IT to increase efficiency, reduce infrastructure costs, and scale to meet customer needs. Michael has been a contributing technology editor and author at InformationWeek and Network Computing magazines with more than 60 published articles, and is the author of the book Federal Cloud Computing. Michael earned a Master’s of Science in Information Systems from Johns Hopkins University and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Afro-American History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Sharon Sharko Debate Foundation, which supports supplemental funding to public high school debate organizations.
IN HIS WORDS | “Debate is a critical life skill that not only enables you to communicate well but also helps you think through and analyze complex problems. It is a skill that everyone can learn with hard work and dedication.”
Stephan Bailey
Class of 1997 | Isidore Newman High School, LA
Stephen Bailey is the co-founder and CEO of ExecOnline, a leading provider of B2B leadership development solutions through partnerships with the world’s top business schools.
Prior to ExecOnline, he served as the CEO of Frontier Strategy Group (FSG), a software and information services business serving Fortune 500 executives who have responsibility for international markets. Stephen grew the business from an early-stage start-up to a company that served nearly half the Fortune 500 across a range of international markets and business functions.
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Jackie Bavaro
Class of 2000 | Hackley School, New York
Jackie Bavaro has over 15 years of product management experience, most recently as head of product management at Asana. During her tenure, she grew the PM team to over 20 people, helped Asana go from $0 to more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue, and launched Asana’s Associate Product Manager (APM) program. She has worked as a PM for Google and Microsoft as well, and in a diverse set of PM roles-consumer, B2B, platform, mobile, and growth. Her first co-authored book, Cracking the PM Interview, has been credited with helping to level the playing field for PM talent. Jackie graduated from Cornell University with a double major in Computer Science and Economics. She currently writes, coaches, and advises from her home in San Francisco, California.
Class of 2002 | St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida
Kevin Allocca is an author and technology professional and is currently the Head of Culture & Trends at YouTube, where he tracks popular video phenomena and manages trending content initiatives. He is YouTube’s expert on the intersection of web video and global culture, and is often cited in the press on subjects of virality, popularity, and breaking news. His TED Talk on “Why Videos Go Viral” has been watched more than two million times, and he has been a keynote speaker at festivals and industry events all over the world. His book Videocracy, which explores YouTube’s most interesting trends and the impact of video on our culture, was published by Bloomsbury in January 2018. He is an alumnus of Boston College and lives and works in New York City.
Class of 1997 | Isidore Newman High School, LA
Stephen Bailey is the co-founder and CEO of ExecOnline, a leading provider of B2B leadership development solutions through partnerships with the world’s top business schools.
Prior to ExecOnline, he served as the CEO of Frontier Strategy Group (FSG), a software and information services business serving Fortune 500 executives who have responsibility for international markets. Stephen grew the business from an early-stage start-up to a company that served nearly half the Fortune 500 across a range of international markets and business functions.
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Class of 1992 | Greendale High School, Wisconsin
Michael is the founder and CEO of Fusion PPT, one of the fastest growing technology firms in the country and a best place to work in the Washington, D.C. area. Prior to founding Fusion PPT, Michael was with Booz Allen Hamilton and served on the academic staff of the University of Wisconsin Law School. As one of the industry’s leading Information Technology experts, Michael has assisted some of the largest organizations across the globe utilize IT to increase efficiency, reduce infrastructure costs, and scale to meet customer needs. Michael has been a contributing technology editor and author at InformationWeek and Network Computing magazines with more than 60 published articles, and is the author of the book Federal Cloud Computing. Michael earned a Master’s of Science in Information Systems from Johns Hopkins University and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Afro-American History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Sharon Sharko Debate Foundation, which supports supplemental funding to public high school debate organizations.
IN HIS WORDS | “Debate is a critical life skill that not only enables you to communicate well but also helps you think through and analyze complex problems. It is a skill that everyone can learn with hard work and dedication.”
Class of 2000 | Hackley School, New York
Jackie Bavaro has over 15 years of product management experience, most recently as head of product management at Asana. During her tenure, she grew the PM team to over 20 people, helped Asana go from $0 to more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue, and launched Asana’s Associate Product Manager (APM) program. She has worked as a PM for Google and Microsoft as well, and in a diverse set of PM roles-consumer, B2B, platform, mobile, and growth. Her first co-authored book, Cracking the PM Interview, has been credited with helping to level the playing field for PM talent. Jackie graduated from Cornell University with a double major in Computer Science and Economics. She currently writes, coaches, and advises from her home in San Francisco, California.
Frances Haugen
Class of 2002 | Iowa City West High School, Iowa
Frances Haugen is a data engineer, scientist, product manager, and Facebook whistleblower. In 2021, she disclosed tens of thousands of Facebook’s internal documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal.
In 2019, Haugen joined Facebook and while she was there, decided it was important to become a whistleblower due to what she has since described as a pattern of Facebook prioritizing profit over public safety.
Since whistle blowing, Frances has appeared in front of the US Congress, Parliament of the United Kingdom, and European Parliament. She is now working on establishing a non-profit to enhance awareness of the harms of social media.
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Larry Magid
Ulysses S. Grant HS, California
Larry Magid is an American journalist, technology columnist and commentator. He is the author of several books. For 20 years, Magid served as the on-air technology analyst for CBS News. He is a frequent contributor to BBC, NPR and other broadcast outlets. Magid is also the founder of SafeKids.com and SafeTeens.com, and co-founder and CEO of ConnectSafely.org. His technology website is LarrysWorld.com. All three websites provide information about Internet safety.
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Ann Miura-Ko
Class of 1994 | Palo Alto High School, California
Ann Miura-Ko is the co-founding partner at seed-stage VC firm, Floodgate. She is currently #18 on the Forbes Midas Seed List, a list of the top venture investors, and is on the New York Times global top 20 venture capitalists list. Ann made early investments in Lyft and saw her stake grow by 10,000x when it went public in 2019. She still holds a seat on the company’s board. She also invests in newer companies like SmarterDX, TerraDot, Roo, and Polygence.
Ann is a co-director of the Stanford Mayfield Fellows Program, a selective program teaching entrepreneurship and leadership to twelve undergraduates. She is a co-founding member of AllRaise, a nonprofit on a mission to accelerate the success of female founders and funders. Ann is on the Board of Trustees at Yale University where she was an undergrad.
About her time in speech and debate, Miura-Ko says, “I think if I hadn’t taken speech and debate, I wouldn’t have gotten over [my fear of public speaking].”
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Joseph Nelson
Class of 2012 | Dowling Catholic HS, Iowa
Joseph Nelson is the Co-founder and CEO of Roboflow, a company focused on making advanced computer vision accessible to developers. Under his leadership, Roboflow has developed tools that enable over 250,000 developers, including those from more than half of the Fortune 100 companies, to create and deploy custom computer vision solutions. The company has raised over $22 million in funding from notable investors, including Y Combinator and Craft Ventures.
Previously, Joseph co-founded and sold an NLP startup, Represently, that helped the US Congress more efficiently respond to constituents (like “Zendesk for Congress”). He also ran a data science consultancy that built ML prototypes. He’s taught over 2000 hours of data science curriculum at General Assembly and The George Washington University, and interned at Facebook.
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Ulysses S. Grant HS, California
Larry Magid is an American journalist, technology columnist and commentator. He is the author of several books. For 20 years, Magid served as the on-air technology analyst for CBS News. He is a frequent contributor to BBC, NPR and other broadcast outlets. Magid is also the founder of SafeKids.com and SafeTeens.com, and co-founder and CEO of ConnectSafely.org. His technology website is LarrysWorld.com. All three websites provide information about Internet safety.
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Class of 2002 | Iowa City West High School, Iowa
Frances Haugen is a data engineer, scientist, product manager, and Facebook whistleblower. In 2021, she disclosed tens of thousands of Facebook’s internal documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal.
In 2019, Haugen joined Facebook and while she was there, decided it was important to become a whistleblower due to what she has since described as a pattern of Facebook prioritizing profit over public safety.
Since whistle blowing, Frances has appeared in front of the US Congress, Parliament of the United Kingdom, and European Parliament. She is now working on establishing a non-profit to enhance awareness of the harms of social media.
Links:
Class of 2012 | Dowling Catholic HS, Iowa
Joseph Nelson is the Co-founder and CEO of Roboflow, a company focused on making advanced computer vision accessible to developers. Under his leadership, Roboflow has developed tools that enable over 250,000 developers, including those from more than half of the Fortune 100 companies, to create and deploy custom computer vision solutions. The company has raised over $22 million in funding from notable investors, including Y Combinator and Craft Ventures.
Previously, Joseph co-founded and sold an NLP startup, Represently, that helped the US Congress more efficiently respond to constituents (like “Zendesk for Congress”). He also ran a data science consultancy that built ML prototypes. He’s taught over 2000 hours of data science curriculum at General Assembly and The George Washington University, and interned at Facebook.
Links:
Class of 1994 | Palo Alto High School, California
Ann Miura-Ko is the co-founding partner at seed-stage VC firm, Floodgate. She is currently #18 on the Forbes Midas Seed List, a list of the top venture investors, and is on the New York Times global top 20 venture capitalists list. Ann made early investments in Lyft and saw her stake grow by 10,000x when it went public in 2019. She still holds a seat on the company’s board. She also invests in newer companies like SmarterDX, TerraDot, Roo, and Polygence.
Ann is a co-director of the Stanford Mayfield Fellows Program, a selective program teaching entrepreneurship and leadership to twelve undergraduates. She is a co-founding member of AllRaise, a nonprofit on a mission to accelerate the success of female founders and funders. Ann is on the Board of Trustees at Yale University where she was an undergrad.
About her time in speech and debate, Miura-Ko says, “I think if I hadn’t taken speech and debate, I wouldn’t have gotten over [my fear of public speaking].”
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Craig Newmark
Class of 1971 | Morristown High School, NJ
Craig Newmark is an internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the website Craigslist. Prior to founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for companies such as IBM, Bank of America, and Charles Schwab. Newmark served as Chief Executive Officer of Craigslist from its founding until 2000.
In 2015, Newmark founded Craig Newmark Philanthropies by which he has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to address cybersecurity, misinformation, journalism, combating harassment of journalists, and food security. He has been known to say, “As a nerd, I don’t know why I need a billion dollars.”
In 2005, Time magazine listed Newmark as one of the 100 people shaping the world.
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Bo Ren
Class of 2006 | Lincoln High School, Oregon
Bo Ren is the Managing Director of Early Stage Startups at Silicon Valley Bank in New York City. Bo mentors and advises startups at the beginning stages of their journey. Before joining SVB, Bo invested in and led ecosystem strategy at Samsung Next. There, she specialized in AI/ML, data privacy and deep tech and helped entrepreneurs and innovators build, grow, and scale their software and services ideas and businesses.
Bo also is a writer and has been featured in The Atlantic, The New York Times, FastCompany, and Women 2.0. She has spoken at a number of conferences including TEDx University of Rochester, Canvas (Birmingham), Design for Action (Chicago), Habit Summit (Stanford), and Lead The Product (Melbourne) on topics ranging from interdisciplinary thinking, designing products for behavioral change, millennial career paths, and why curiosity matters.
Bo is a mentor and cofounder of Gold Rush, an accelerator which invests and supports early-stage AAPI founders.
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Michael Reszler
Class of 1987 | Aberdeen Central High School, South Dakota
Michael Reszler is the Chief Digital Officer and Sr. Vice President of Strategy and Experimentation at American Public Media Group. Mike has been involved with the creation of the digital news industry since 1996. In that time, he won numerous awards and been involved with and overseen projects that won the Pulitzer, Emmy, and Edward R. Murrow Excellence Award to name a few. He has published and spoken widely on the intersection technology, audiences, and journalism. He was the former Director of Digital News for Knight Ridder where he helped to coordinate the digital newsrooms of 50 different news operations across the country. He hold a Master’s Degree and is A.B.D. from the Claremont Graduate School, where he was a Mellow Scholar and Fellow. For Mike, the single most important educational experience of his life was high school speech and debate.
Justin Rosenstein
Class of 2001 | College Prep, California
Justin Rosenstein is the co-founder of Asana, along with Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. Asana builds software that many of the world’s most important organizations use to achieve better results by tracking their work with less effort. The company’s mission is to help humanity thrive by enabling all teams to work together effortlessly.
Justin has led the development of products that billions of people use daily. At Facebook, he co-invented and led the development of the Like Button and Facebook Pages, and designed the in-house project management system that Facebook relies on to this day. At Google, he co-invented Google Drive and Gmail Chat.
Justin is also the co-founder of One Project, an emerging non-profit whose mission is to inspire the brightest minds to work on the highest-impact projects for creating social good.
Class of 1971 | Morristown High School, NJ
Craig Newmark is an internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the website Craigslist. Prior to founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for companies such as IBM, Bank of America, and Charles Schwab. Newmark served as Chief Executive Officer of Craigslist from its founding until 2000.
In 2015, Newmark founded Craig Newmark Philanthropies by which he has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to address cybersecurity, misinformation, journalism, combating harassment of journalists, and food security. He has been known to say, “As a nerd, I don’t know why I need a billion dollars.”
In 2005, Time magazine listed Newmark as one of the 100 people shaping the world.
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Class of 1987 | Aberdeen Central High School, South Dakota
Michael Reszler is the Chief Digital Officer and Sr. Vice President of Strategy and Experimentation at American Public Media Group. Mike has been involved with the creation of the digital news industry since 1996. In that time, he won numerous awards and been involved with and overseen projects that won the Pulitzer, Emmy, and Edward R. Murrow Excellence Award to name a few. He has published and spoken widely on the intersection technology, audiences, and journalism. He was the former Director of Digital News for Knight Ridder where he helped to coordinate the digital newsrooms of 50 different news operations across the country. He hold a Master’s Degree and is A.B.D. from the Claremont Graduate School, where he was a Mellow Scholar and Fellow. For Mike, the single most important educational experience of his life was high school speech and debate.
Class of 2006 | Lincoln High School, Oregon
Bo Ren is the Managing Director of Early Stage Startups at Silicon Valley Bank in New York City. Bo mentors and advises startups at the beginning stages of their journey. Before joining SVB, Bo invested in and led ecosystem strategy at Samsung Next. There, she specialized in AI/ML, data privacy and deep tech and helped entrepreneurs and innovators build, grow, and scale their software and services ideas and businesses.
Bo also is a writer and has been featured in The Atlantic, The New York Times, FastCompany, and Women 2.0. She has spoken at a number of conferences including TEDx University of Rochester, Canvas (Birmingham), Design for Action (Chicago), Habit Summit (Stanford), and Lead The Product (Melbourne) on topics ranging from interdisciplinary thinking, designing products for behavioral change, millennial career paths, and why curiosity matters.
Bo is a mentor and cofounder of Gold Rush, an accelerator which invests and supports early-stage AAPI founders.
Links:
Class of 2001 | College Prep, California
Justin Rosenstein is the co-founder of Asana, along with Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. Asana builds software that many of the world’s most important organizations use to achieve better results by tracking their work with less effort. The company’s mission is to help humanity thrive by enabling all teams to work together effortlessly.
Justin has led the development of products that billions of people use daily. At Facebook, he co-invented and led the development of the Like Button and Facebook Pages, and designed the in-house project management system that Facebook relies on to this day. At Google, he co-invented Google Drive and Gmail Chat.
Justin is also the co-founder of One Project, an emerging non-profit whose mission is to inspire the brightest minds to work on the highest-impact projects for creating social good.
Ben Silbermann
Class of 1999 | Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa
Ben Silbermann is an internet entrepreneur who is the founder and Executive Chair of Pinterest, a virtual pinboard that lets users organize images, links, recipes, and other items. The website allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections called ‘pinboards.’ Examples include events, interests, hobbies, and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, ‘re-pin’ images to their own collections, and/or ‘like’ photos. Silberman competed in both speech and debate and attended the National Tournament.
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Class of 1999 | Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Iowa
Ben Silbermann is an internet entrepreneur who is the founder and Executive Chair of Pinterest, a virtual pinboard that lets users organize images, links, recipes, and other items. The website allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections called ‘pinboards.’ Examples include events, interests, hobbies, and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, ‘re-pin’ images to their own collections, and/or ‘like’ photos. Silberman competed in both speech and debate and attended the National Tournament.
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Technology
Class of 1982 | Milton Academy, Massachussetts
Karl obtained his J.D. with honors in 1989 from Harvard Law School and associated with the firm of Gipson Hoffman & Pancione, where he practiced entertainment law. Karl joined the firm formerly known as Armstrong Hirsch in 1994, where he continues to represent actors, writers, directors and producers in the motion picture and television industries. In 2004, Karl became a name partner of the firm, currently called Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. He is currently CEO and Managing Partner of the firm.
Karl was selected to Super Lawyers for 2020 – 2024. This peer designation is awarded only to a select number of accomplished attorneys in each state. The Super Lawyers selection process takes into account peer recognition, professional achievement in legal practice, and other cogent factors.
Class of 2022 | Milton Academy, Georgia
Cyrus Ghavi joined the NFL as an assistant counsel in 2013 and has since risen through the ranks of the legal department to become associate counsel, counsel, and, most recently, senior counsel. In his current role, he advises and supports stakeholders of the league’s thirty-two teams on a wide range of matters, including finance and governance, stadium projects and leases, and team ownership policy, and transactions. He also supports the NFL owners’ Finance and Stadium Committees.
An avid debate team member in high school and college, a young Ghavi participated in 15 to 20 tournaments a year, traveling frequently and fine-tuning his ability to see and argue all sides of an issue. While attending Emory University, Cyrus was the President of the Barkley Forum Debate Society.
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Class of 1990 | Jesuit High School, Florida
Jeff Joseph is a graduate of the University of Denver, College of Law. He is on the advisory council of the Federal Bar Association Immigration Law Section and is Vice President of the Colorado Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Joseph currently serves on the national liaison committee between U.S. Citizenship and the United States Department of Labor. In 2004, he received the Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award from the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Mr. Joseph was named Immigration Lawyer of the Year in the USA in 2016 from Corporate LiveWire. Joseph Law Firm, P.C. has also been ranked as a Tier 1 law firm in the field of Immigration Law by U.S. News and World Reports. Mr. Joseph has represented clients before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and the Circuit Courts of Appeals, and has published several opinions in those courts. He is an adjunct professor of immigration law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He currently serves as Secretary of the Joseph Family Foundation and as assistant debate coach for Kent Denver High School.
Class of 1994 | Caddo Parish Magnet High School, Louisiana
Grace Mead is a complex commercial litigator and shareholder at Stearns Weaver Miller in Miami, Florida. Grace attended Dartmouth College, where she continued to compete in debate. She later graduated with High Honors, Order of the Coif, from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She then clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and was an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Since, at Stearns Weaver, from 2007 to 2017, she represented BBX Capital Corporation and its Chairman and CEO Alan Levan, which owned the 100-branch Florida bank BankAtlantic in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and then enforcement action alleging BBX had concealed loan risks. A six-week jury trial and split verdict in 2014, a successful appeal to the Eleventh Circuit in 2016, and a second six-week jury trial in 2017 resulted in a verdict and judgment for BBX and Mr. Levan rejecting every claim asserted by the SEC. She currently represents Florida pubic college and university donors, recent graduates, and proposed classes of donors, students, and recent graduates in a lawsuit to compel payment of more than $1 billion owed to Florida’s public colleges, universities, and their students.
Jonathan Hines
Grapevine HS, Texas
Jonathan Hines is the Co-Founder of Debater Hub, a company that leverages generative AI to create engaging and impactful learning experiences for diverse audiences. Debater Hub aims to revolutionize education by bringing Augmented Debate Centered Instruction to the masses, empowering learners and educators with the skills and tools to communicate effectively, critically, and ethically in a complex and dynamic world.
Hines has also been coaching and teaching speech and debate for over 20 years, developing curriculum and leading programs that foster communication and media literacy skills among learners of all ages and backgrounds. As the Director of Debate at Head-Royce School, a prestigious K-12 independent school, he co-directs one of the top speech and debate programs worldwide.
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Grapevine HS, Texas
Jonathan Hines is the Co-Founder of Debater Hub, a company that leverages generative AI to create engaging and impactful learning experiences for diverse audiences. Debater Hub aims to revolutionize education by bringing Augmented Debate Centered Instruction to the masses, empowering learners and educators with the skills and tools to communicate effectively, critically, and ethically in a complex and dynamic world.
Hines has also been coaching and teaching speech and debate for over 20 years, developing curriculum and leading programs that foster communication and media literacy skills among learners of all ages and backgrounds. As the Director of Debate at Head-Royce School, a prestigious K-12 independent school, he co-directs one of the top speech and debate programs worldwide.
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