Biography

Jacob Thompson is the head coach and director of UNLV's nationally recognized, award-winning debate team and a professor in residence in the department of communication studies. Under his leadership, UNLV's debate team has risen rapidly since its rebirth in 2007 and has been ranked among the best teams in the nation for several years. In 2018, Thompson received the George Ziegelmueller "coach of the year" award and in 2020 he was recognized as the Ross K. Smith "national coach of the year" by the National Debate Tournament. Thompson also played an important role in the third presidential debate in 2016 that took place at UNLV, serving on multiple university committees that organized debate-related activities, and participating in over 100 interviews as a University media expert on presidential debates. Thompson's research and teaching focuses on presidential and political campaign debates, persuasion, argumentation theory and practice, and the rhetoric of American foreign policy.