Brett Bricker


Brett Bricker
  • Associate Specialist
  • Head Coach and Associate Director of Debate

Contact Info

Bailey Hall Room 402
1440 Jayhawk Blvd
Lawrence, KS 66045-7594

Biography

Assistant Director of Debate at the University of Kansas since 2010.  As a coach he has lead KU to 5 NDT Final Fours including a National Championship in 2018. He was named the 2023 Collegiate Educator of the Year by the Kansas Speech Communication Association. In 2023 he received the George W. Ziegelmueller Award for career achievement as a debate coach by the National Debate Tournament. He was the winner of the Ovid Davis Award for coaching the top ranked team in the country in 2018. He was voted one of the top 10 debate judges in the country for the decade of 2010-2019. As a debater Brett has the most wins in the history of the University of Kansas debate program. He won the National Debate Tournament in 2009.  He won multiple other tournaments including Harvard, the University of Southern California, West Georgia and the Kentucky Round Robin.  He was a four time qualifier for the National Debate Tournament and a three time qualifier for the elimination rounds.  He received three first round at large bids to the NDT including a 2nd place ranking in 2009 and a 3rd place ranking in 2008. He was 2nd speaker at the NDT in 2009 and 3rd speaker in 2008.  He was Top Speaker at numerous tournaments including Georgia State, Harvard, the University of Southern California, West Georgia, the Kentucky Round Robin and twice at the Dartmouth Round Robin.  He spent three years as debate coach at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart and has taught at numerous summer debate institutes including the University of Michigan.  He has even taught debate in Shanghai China. His major research interests are in rhetorical criticism, environmental discourse and argumentation.  His work has been published in a number of journals including Communication Studies, Argumentation and Advocacy, Western Journal of Communication and Contemporary Argumentation and Debate.