Biography

In 1968, Dr. Patricia B. Long took the helm of the UCLA Debate Union from Ralph Richardson and ran the program ably for the next 9 years. Qualifying teams for the national debate tournament every year,

Patty Long coached such notable debaters as Elden Rosenthal, Claude Fischer, Michael Josephson, Roy Shults, Alec Wisner, Julie Bornstein, Frank Kimball, Royal Oaks, Andy Demetriou, and Michael Hartman, all of who qualified for the Debate National Tournament.

Under her leadership, UCLA won it’s first national debate championship in 1971. Don Hornstein and Barrett McInerny were juniors the year of their victory.

In the 1969 Debate National Competition at the University of Houston, Hornstein and McInerny, only freshmen at the time, placed first and third speaker, and Roy Shults and Alec Wisner placed 3rd, behind the University of Houston and Harvard University, which won the championship.

This standard of speech and debate excellence was a direct result of Dr. Long’s expert coaching and was maintained throughout her tenure as director of forensics.