List of National Speech and Debate Association members

The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle school and high school students in the United States. ^[1] It was known as the National Forensic League from 1925 to 2014. ^[2] Many NSDA alumni have risen to the pinnacle of their respective fields, including the following. ^[3]

Academia

Name	Chapter	Notability	Reference
Tracy Packiam Alloway	Liberty University	Professor of psychology at the University of North Florida
Douglas Bernheim	Harvard School	Professor of economics at Stanford University
John Bessler	Loyola High School	Professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law
Russell L. Caldwell	Wooster High School	History professor and chair at the University of Southern California	[ citation needed ]
Brittney Cooper	Ruston High School	Professor of women's and gender studies and Africana studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Mike Edmonds	Northwest High School	academic administrator and acting co-president of Colorado College
Kenneth Hersh	St. Mark's School of Texas	CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center
Leah Litman	Edina High School	Professor at the University of Michigan Law Schoo
W. Walter Menninger	Topeka High School	Dean of the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Science and CEO of the Menninger Clinic
Melissa Murray	Lincoln Park Academy	Professor of law at New York University
Benjamin Olken	Milton Academy	Economist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Elinor Ostrom	Beverly Hills High School	Winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and professor of political science at Indiana University,
Farah Pandith	Milton Academy	Senior fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School
Sarah Parcak	Bangor High School	Egyptologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
James Poterba	Pennsbury High School	Professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and president and CEO of the National Bureau of Economic Research
Robert D. Putnam	Port Clinton High School	Political scientist and professor at the Harvard Kennedy School
Lewis Sargentich	Alhambra High School	Professor at Harvard Law School
John Sexton	Brooklyn Preparatory School	Professor of Law at New York University
David Alan Sklansky	Corona del Mar High School	Professor of law at Stanford Law School
Anand Veeravagu	Grapevine High School	Neurosurgeon at Stanford University Hospital and Clinics

Business

Name	Chapter	Notability	Reference
Aimee Allison	Antioch High School	Founder of She the People
Roy Bahat	Stuyvesant High School	Venture capitalist
Austan Goolsbee	Milton Academy	President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
Frances Haugen	Iowa City West High School	Whistleblower on Facebook
Ann Kim	Apple Valley High School	James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur
Craig Newmark	Morristown High School	Founder of Craigslist
Justin Rosenstein	The College Preparatory School	Software programmer and co-founder of Asana
Deena Shakir	Leland High School	Venture capitalist
Ben Silbermann	Des Moines Roosevelt High School	Co-founder and executive chairman of Pinterest

Entertainment

Name	Chapter	Notability	Reference
Kalen Allen	Sumner Academy of Arts & Science	Actor and internet personality
Kristen Soltis Anderson	Cypress Creek High School	Republican pollster, television personality, and writer
Brian Baumgartner	The Westminster Schools	Actor
Daniel Beaty		Actor, singer, and writer known as KOA
David Begnaud	Teurlings Catholic High School	Correspondent for CBS This Morning , the CBS Evening News , and 48 Hours
Chadwick Boseman	T. L. Hanna High School	Actor
Benjamin Bratt	Lowell High School	Actor
Nancy Cartwright	Fairmont West High School	Emmy Award-winning voice actor
Jessica Chastain	Sacramento City College	Actress and producer
Stephen Colbert	Porter-Gaud School	Comedian and television host
Chris Colfer	Clovis East High School	Golden Globe Award winning actor and singer
Bertha Coombs	Milton Academy	Reporter for CNBC
Robert Costa	Boston Latin School	Chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News
Jim Cummings	Ursuline High School	Voice actor
James Dean	Fairmount High School	Actor	[4]
Joyce DeWitt	Speedway Senior High School	Actress
Paul W. Draper	Olympus High School	Mentalist and magician
Zac Efron	Arroyo Grande High School	Actor
Billy Eichner	Stuyvesant High School	Actor and comedian
Nelsan Ellis	Illinois State University	Actor
Sutton Foster	Troy High School	Broadway actress
Josh Gad	NSU University School	Actor
Ginger Gonzaga	Fred C. Beyer High School	Actress
Becky Gulsvig	Moorhead High School	stage actress
Arsenio Hall	Ohio University	Comedian, actor, and television host
LaRoyce Hawkins	Thornton Township High School	Actor, stand-up comedian, spoken word artist, and musician
Brian Tyree Henry	E. E. Smith High School	Actor
Marcello Hernández	John Carroll University	Stand-up comedian and actor
John Hoogenakker	South Mecklenburg High School	Actor
Chuck Huber	Trinity High School	Voice actor
David Henry Hwang	Harvard-Westlake School	Playwright and screenwriter
Hallie Jackson	Pennsbury High School	Correspondent and anchor for NBC News
Erik Jensen	Apple Valley High School	Actor, playwright, and documentarian
Cherry Jones	Henry County High School	Actress
Colin Jost	Regis High School	Comedian, actor, and screenwriter
David Lindsay-Abaire	Milton Academy	Playwright, screenwriter, and lyricist
John Lithgow	Princeton High School	Actor
Tom Llamas	Belen Jesuit Preparatory School	Emmy Award-winning anchor of ABC World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News
Shelley Long	South Side High School	Actress and comedian	[4] [5]
Jon Lovett	Syosset High School	Podcaster, screenwriter, and television producer
Carlos Maza		Video producer who started the Vox series Strikethrough	[6]
Brian McBride	Westbury High School	Musician known for Stars of the Lid
Heather McGhee	Milton Academy	Television political commintator
Idina Menzel	Syosset High School	Actress
Hasan Minhaj	Davis Senior High School	Comedian, actor, and producer
John Moe	Federal Way High School	Radio personality and podcaster
Anson Mount	Dickson County High School	Actor
Donna Murphy	Masconomet Regional High School	Actress
Roberto Orci	Spring Woods High School	Screenwriter and producer
Jared Padalecki	James Madison High School	Actor
Fred Parker Jr.	Northside Independent School District	Actor	[7]
Jane Pauley	Warren Central High School	Television host of Today and Dateline NBC
Jordan Peele	Calhoun School	Comedian, actor, and filmmaker
Kal Penn	Freehold Township High School	Actor
Brad Pitt	Kickapoo High School	Actor
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez	Newark Arts High School	Actress and singer
Paul Rudd	Shawnee Mission West High School	Actor and comedian
Danielle Schneider	Spanish River Community High School	Actress
Heidi Schreck	Wenatchee High School	Screenwriter, playwright, and actress
Katy Selverstone	Scranton Central High School	Actress
Yara Shahidi	Dwight Global Online School	Actress and producer
Casey Simpson	Agoura High School	Actor
Jenny Slate	Milton Academy	Actress, comedian, and writer
Brent Spiner	Bellaire High School	Actor known for Star Trek: The Next Generation	[5]
Bruce Springsteen	Freehold Borough High School	Rock musician	[4]
Jason Sudeikis	Shawnee Mission West High School	Actor and comedian
Maria Thayer	Apple Valley High School	Actress
Kenan Thompson	Woodward Academy	Comedian and actor
Stephen Tobolowsky	Justin F. Kimball High School	Actor
Michael Urie	Plano Senior High School	Actor
Michael Benjamin Washington	Plano Senior High School	Actor
Pete Williams	Natrona County High School	Television correspondent for NBC News
Oprah Winfrey	East Nashville High School	Talk show host, actress, producer, and author	[4]
BD Wong	Abraham Lincoln High School	Actor
Bowen Yang	Smoky Hill High School	Actor and comedian
"Weird Al" Yankovic	Lynwood High School	Comedy musician
Anthony E. Zuiker	Chaparral High School	Screenwriter

Law

Name	Chapter	Notability	Reference
Samuel Alito	Hamilton High School East	Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Preet Bharara	Ranney School	United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
Lisa Blatt	Bellaire High School	Lawyer and partner at the law firm Williams & Connolly
Stephen Breyer	Lowell High School	Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Paul Clement	Cedarburg High School	Solicitor General of the United States
Viet Dinh	Fullerton High School	United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy
David Frederick	Thomas Jefferson High School	Appellate attorney and partner at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick
Thomas Goldstein	NSU University School	Lawyer and co-founder of SCOTUSblog
Ketanji Brown Jackson	Miami Palmetto Senior High School	Justice, Supreme Court of the United States	[8]
Neal Katyal	Loyola Academy	Appellate lawyer professor at the Georgetown University Law Center
Anna M. Manasco	Saint James School	U.S. District judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Katherine M. Menendez	Topeka High School	U.S. District judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
Janet Reno	Coral Gables High School	United States Attorney General	[4]
Sonia Sotomayor	Cardinal Spellman High School	Justice, Supreme Court of the United States

Religion

Name	Chapter	Notability	Reference
Pope Leo XIV	St. Augustine Seminary High School	Bishop of Rome, head of the Catholic Church	[9] [10]

Literature and print journalism

Name	Chapter	Notability	Reference
Ty Burr	Milton Academy	Film critic at The Boston Globe
Pintip Dunn	Parsons Senior High School	Author of young adult fiction
Saeed Jones	Lewisville High School	Poet
Priya Krishna	Greenhill School	Food journalist for The New York Times
R. F. Kuang	Greenhill School	Fantasy writer
Min Jin Lee	Bronx High School of Science	Author and journalist
Ben Lerner	Topeka High School	Poet, novelist, essayist, and critic
Larry Magid	Ulysses S. Grant High School	Technology columnist, writer, and commentator
Celeste Ng	Shaker Heights High School	Novelist
Alan Sepinwall	Montville High School	Chief television critic for Rolling Stone
Bryan Washington	James E. Taylor High School	Writer

Politics

Name	Chapter	Notability	Reference
Stacey Abrams	Avondale High School	Georgia House of Representatives
Rebecca Blank	Alexander Ramsey High School	United States Secretary of Commerce
James H. Burnley IV	High Point Central High School	United States Secretary of Transportation	[11]
G. T. Bynum	Cascia Hall Preparatory School	40th mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Yvanna Cancela	Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart	White House Senior Advisor to Governors and Statewide Elected Officials and chief of staff to the Governor of Nevada
Joaquin Castro	Thomas Jefferson High School	United States House of Representatives and Texas House of Representatives
Frank G. Clement	Dickson County High School	Governor of Tennessee
William J. Crowe Jr.	Classen High School	U, S, Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a U.S. Navy admiral
Steve Daines	Bozeman High School	United States Senator and U.S. House of Representative
Diana DeGette	South High School	U.S. House of Representative
Russ Feingold	Joseph A. Craig High School	United States Senator, Wisconsin Senate, and U.S. Special Envoy for the African Great Lakes and the Congo-Kinshasa
Peggy Flanagan	St. Louis Park High School	50th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
Bob Graham	Miami Carol City High School	Governor of Florida and United States Senator
Thamar Harrigan	North Miami Beach Senior High School	White House Chief of Staff and White House Liaison of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency	[12]
Megan Jones	Spencer High School	Iowa House of Representatives
Colin Kahl	John F. Kennedy High School	Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and national security advisor to the vice president und
Kevin Kiley	Granite Bay High School	United States House of Representatives and California State Assembly
Richard Lugar	Shortridge High School	United States Senate
Michael McFaul	Bozeman High School	United States Ambassador to Russia
Tom Ridge	Cathedral Preparatory School	Governor of Pennsylvania and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security
Karl Rove	Olympus High School	White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Senior Advisor to the President	[4]
Robert Rubin	Miami Beach High School	70th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
Terri Sewell	Selma High School	United States House of Representatives
Jake Sullivan	Southwest High School	U.S. National Security Advisor
Megan Srinivas	Fort Dodge High School	Iowa House of Representatives
Elizabeth Warren	Northwest Classen High School	United States Senate
John Wertheim		Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and political candidate
Paul Wesselhoft		Oklahoma House of Representatives
Zohran Mamdani	Bronx High School of Science	New York State Assembly, 2025 Democratic nominee for New York City Mayor

References

1. "What Is Forensic Competition?". Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
2. "Rebranding - USA National Forensic League becomes National Speech & Debate Association". Global Debate. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
3. "Notable Alumni". National Speech & Debate Association. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
4. "26 Famous People Who Were on the Debate Team". Ranker. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
5. "Before Brent Spiner was Famous". National Forensic League. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2024– via web.archive.org.
6. "2018-IMG-Alum-Carlos-Maza". National Speech & Debate Association. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
7. "Texas Actor Fred Parker, Jr. Broadway-bound". Focus Daily News. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2024– via web.archive.org.
8. Mazzei, Patricia (February 26, 2022). "How a High School Debate Team Shaped Ketanji Brown Jackson". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 10, 2023.
9. "(Robert Prevost) Attends State Forensic Congress in Lansing - Newspapers.com™". May 9, 2025. Archived from the original on May 9, 2025. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
10. ""Did you know the newly appointed Pope Leo XIV was head of his high school speech and debate team? NSDA Executive Director Scott Wunn shares how the skills built in prep rooms and rounds have been creating leaders for generations. Read more by checking the link in our bio!"". Instagram. May 12, 2025. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
11. Williams, Lena (October 10, 1987). "MAN IN THE NEWS: James Horace Burnley 4th; TOUGH CABINET NOMINEE". The New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
12. "Thamar Harrigan – USTDA" . Retrieved September 20, 2024.