Welcome to the University of Mary Washington, a public arts and sciences institution in Fredericksburg, Va., that attracts intellectually curious undergraduate and graduate students in search of rigorous academics. The university – located midway between Richmond, Va., and Washington, D.C. – provides a rich array of academic, research, internship, leadership, and recreational opportunities that not only train students for the real world but allow them to interact closely with faculty members.

University of Mary Washington

Timothy O'Donnell helped build the UMW debate program into one of the nation’s top contenders. More recently, he’s taken on the role of UMW’s associate provost for Academic Engagement and Student Success, but his passion for debate never waivers.
Chair of the National Debate Tournament Committee since 2006, he’s a nationally recognized leader of the campaign to help historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) field high-quality debate teams on crucial public policy issues. He also co-organized the first-ever Inaugural Debate Series, which invited HBCUs and other schools including UMW to the nation’s capital on the eve of the 2009 presidential inauguration to debate Obama administration priorities. In addition, he co-organized the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Water Wars” debate series.
As director of UMW’s debate program for more than a decade, Dr. O’Donnell coached the university’s nationally ranked intercollegiate policy debate team to win the American Debate Association National Championship in 2009 and four other times since 2001 and to finish second twice. He has received the association’s Robert Lambert Coach of the Year Award for Excellence and Service in Intercollegiate Debate.  
Dr. O’Donnell has held leadership positions in such groups as the American Debate Association, the American Forensic Association and the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology. Media outlets from around the globe, including the Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor and Pravda, have interviewed O’Donnell on issues related to presidential debates.
He has taught courses in public speaking, argumentation and debate, public argument, rhetoric of controversy, rhetoric of science, and rhetorical theory and criticism. He has published articles on such topics as the art of the debate speech, adolescent culture in argumentation, climate change, and the future of debate.

Debate

Public Speaking

Argumentation

Rhetorical Theory and Criticism

Why Companies Like Grads With a Liberal Arts Degree

Georgetown Report Reveals Median Wages for Liberal Arts Majors

LIBERAL ARTS DECLINING OR IN METAMORPHOSIS? SURVEY REVEALS UNIVERSITY LEADERS DIVIDED

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY REPORT REVEALS MEDIAN WAGES FOR LIBERAL ARTS MAJORS

Associate Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Success 

Select Inquiry Type