Communication Faculty Member Named Argumentation Educator of the Year

Ryan Neville-Shepard, associate professor and vice chair in the Department of Communication in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, has been named the 2025 Educator of the Year by the National Communication Association's Argumentation and Forensics Division.

Neville-Shepard is an established scholar in political communication and argumentation, with expertise in fringe political rhetoric. He currently serves as editor of the national journal Communication and Democracy and has recently served on editorial boards for 10 different journals, including Argumentation and Advocacy, which is the flagship journal for the study of argumentation in the U.S.     

Argumentation theory and practice has long been the focus of Neville-Shepard's pedagogy. He has taught courses in public speaking, persuasion, debate, argumentation and advocacy, and recently taught a graduate seminar at the U of A on argumentation theory. Having designed the communication major's 20000-level gateway course in argumentation, over 200 students per year now receive training in the area.

In his nomination letter for Neville-Shepard, department chair Matthew Spialek wrote, "What impresses me the most about Dr. Neville-Shepard is his commitment to research mentorship, and his recent work with students in his argumentation seminar was outstanding." Noting Neville-Shepard's commitment to scaffolding writing assignments to help students produce original research early in their careers, Spialek wrote, "Not only did the vast majority of students in his class have their work accepted at national and regional conferences, but many of them quickly published their first solo-authored journal articles in top-tier outlets with his help."

Focus on argumentation and politics has also guided Neville-Shepard's service and community outreach. Before joining the U of A, he founded a debate team at Indiana University-Columbus, helping students train to be competent communicators by engaging in public debates and intercollegiate competition. He has staged presidential debate watch events and has been active in fostering community conversations around international policy by organizing a local version of the Foreign Policy Association's Great Decisions Series when he worked in Indiana.

As a first-generation college graduate, Neville-Shepard traces his academic career to early training in speech and debate, particularly when he decided to join the high school debate team. "Coincidentally enough," he says, "I joined the debate team and became interested in argumentation after reading a story in my local newspaper about students winning awards at a debate tournament. I thought, 'I'm opinionated, I can do that.' Growing up in rural poverty, debate fostered my intellectual independence, made me more engaged in the world and gave me opportunities I never could have imagined. As an instructor now, I always try to bring those kinds of opportunities to my own students."

Neville-Shepard was honored during the Argumentation and Forensics Division's business meeting on Nov. 21, 2025, during the annual convention of the National Communication Association in Denver, Colorado.