For Camas resident, discovering debate was ‘turning point in my life’

Richard Cherwitz didn’t always have a voice.

He was, in his own words, “a pretty average, mediocre student” as a teenager growing up in Davenport, Iowa. He struggled with confidence and direction — until he discovered debate.

“Instantly I had success and realized that the skills that I was developing in debate were going to make a great bit of difference to my life,” said Cherwitz, a 74-year-old Camas resident. “They helped me become a better student, get a scholarship to the University of Iowa and get on its debate team, so debate was really an instrumental turning point in my life.”

Debate not only helped Cherwitz find his voice but also set him on a path toward a career defined by ideas, argument and public engagement. He recently received the National Debate Tournament’s 2026 Laurence H. Tribe Distinguished Alumni Award.

The annual award, presented March 27, recognizes a National Debate Tournament alumnus who has used debate training to make significant contributions to their profession, society or humanity.

“The purpose of this award strongly resonates with my long-held conviction that debate equips students with skills empowering them to be successful in many careers besides law,” Cherwitz said in his acceptance speech. “It is not an understatement to say this has been the story of my life for more than 50 years.”

Cherwitz is a professor emeritus in the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas Austin, where he served 41 years in the Department of Communication Studies (Rhetoric) and the Department of Rhetoric and Writing.

Cherwitz founded and formerly directed the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium, a nationally recognized program designed to educate “citizen-scholars” and leverage knowledge for social good.

“He understood clearly that higher education needed a different model, and he came up with a very appealing approach that showed students their investment in education would pay dividends beyond what they had been led to believe,” said Richard Lariviere, former dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas.

Cherwitz has authored two scholarly books and more than 100 articles, book chapters and essays, in addition to more than 150 op-eds addressing politics, academic engagement and public scholarship.

“Dr. Cherwitz has engaged in extensive public argument that helps people understand the political and policy consequences of rhetorical choices,” said David Hingstman, former director of the University of Iowa’s debate program.

Teresa Sullivan, professor emerita of sociology and law at the University of Texas, said Cherwitz is “one of the most influential rhetoricians alive today.”

“He has made generations of students and readers aware of how rhetoric — how things are said — influences our beliefs, actions and politics,” she said.

Numerous awards

Cherwitz’s teaching and research have earned numerous honors, including four of the National Communication Association’s top awards in rhetoric, the Southern States Communication Association Michael M. Osborn Teacher-Scholar Award, and multiple university-level teaching and research awards. His work also has been recognized nationally for innovation, professional service and diversity.

Cherwitz did not initially plan a career in communication. As an undergraduate, he intended to pursue prelaw because he felt drawn to argument and public affairs. But debate — and one of his political science professors — shifted his perspective, revealing the power of rhetoric beyond the courtroom.

“In other words, taking the things I was learning as a political science student and using them in a somewhat different way,” he said. “That just turned me on. I applied to the University of Iowa speech department, got accepted and started my teaching assistantship. That’s where it all began.”

It ended in Austin in 2019, when Cherwitz retired. He moved to Camas in 2024 with his wife, whose daughter lives in Vancouver.

“We wanted to leave the Texas heat, and this was an ideal place,” he said. “I’m so glad we moved here. From my house, I can see Mount Hood and the Columbia River, and it just brings a smile to my face every time.”