UMW Debate Coach Gets National Honor

Adrienne Brovero, head debate coach at the University of Mary Washington, was honored with the Ross K. Smith National Coach of the Year Award from the National Debate Tournament. The award, given annually at the Wake Forest University intercollegiate debate tournament, is reserved for exceptional teachers who advance the forensic art.

Brovero received this distinction during a ceremony on Friday, November 11 at Wake Forest University.

“This award recognizes that Coach Brovero is one of the most distinguished intercollegiate debate coaches in the United States today,” said Timothy O’Donnell, director of debate at UMW. “There is no higher honor in the debate coaching profession and this recognition by her peers affirms what we at UMW have long known – Adrienne Brovero is one of the best debate coaches in the country.”

Under Brovero’s leadership, members of the UMW debate team have been among the top 16 teams in the nations for much of the past five years, including a third place finish at the 2010 National Debate Tournament. She started as debate coach at Mary Washington in 2006, after holding coaching positions at Wake Forest University, the University of Michigan, Northwestern University and the University of Richmond.

Brovero received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wake Forest University. While a student at Wake Forest, she was a semi-finalist in the National Debate Tournament two years in a row. 

-Courtesy UMW Public Information