Tim O'Donnell
Associate Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Success | University of Mary Washington
Fredericksburg, VA, UNITED STATES
Dr. O'Donnell specializes in communication and debate.
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Biography
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.
Areas of Expertise (4)
Argumentation
Rhetorical Theory and Criticism
Debate
Public Speaking
Education (3)
University of Pittsburgh: Ph.D., Graduate Studies
Wake Forest University: M.A., Graduate Studies
Wake Forest University: B.A., Undergraduate Studies
Media Appearances (5)
Why Companies Like Grads With a Liberal Arts Degree
Investopedia.com online
2015-10-23
A liberal arts degree checks all of the boxes on the above survey’s checklist, according to Timothy M. O'Donnell, Associate Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Success at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia: “In addition to developing the ability to communicate effectively in speaking and writing, liberal arts students develop the capacity to think critically about complex problems and formulate creative solutions, and also make evidence-based judgments while maintaining a commitment to integrity and intercultural competence,” says O'Donnell.
Georgetown Report Reveals Median Wages for Liberal Arts Majors
GoodCall.Com online
2015-11-03
Those who suggest that the liberal arts are ill-suited for the 21st century world of work aren’t listening to employers, according to Timothy M. O’Donnell, Associate Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Success at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. “Survey after survey indicates that employers are looking for exactly those things which have always been a hallmark of the liberal arts experience.”
LIBERAL ARTS DECLINING OR IN METAMORPHOSIS? SURVEY REVEALS UNIVERSITY LEADERS DIVIDED
GOODCALL.COM online
2016-05-24
Not necessarily, according to Timothy M. O’Donnell, associate provost for Academic Engagement and Student Success at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He tells GoodCall, “Those who suggest that the liberal arts are ill-suited for the 21st-century world of work aren’t listening to employers.”
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY REPORT REVEALS MEDIAN WAGES FOR LIBERAL ARTS MAJORS
GOODCALL.COM online
2016-05-25
Those who suggest that the liberal arts are ill-suited for the 21st century world of work aren’t listening to employers, according to Timothy M. O’Donnell, Associate Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Success at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. “Survey after survey indicates that employers are looking for exactly those things which have always been a hallmark of the liberal arts experience.”
Why Companies Like Grads With a Liberal Arts Degree
Investopedia.com online
2016-05-25
A liberal arts degree checks all of the boxes on the above survey’s checklist, according to Timothy M. O'Donnell, Associate Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Success at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia: “In addition to developing the ability to communicate effectively in speaking and writing, liberal arts students develop the capacity to think critically about complex problems and formulate creative solutions, and also make evidence-based judgments while maintaining a commitment to integrity and intercultural competence,” says O'Donnell.
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