Interested in learning more about the judges evaluating the final debate of the 2024-25 competition? See the following!

​​

Mr. William Brewer co-founded the national litigation firm of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors in 1984.  Since that time, he has earned a national reputation as one of the most successful lawyers in the United States practicing exclusively in the field of complex commercial litigation and dispute resolution. Mr. Brewer is also a co-founding partner of the Brewer Foundation.

A former debater himself, Mr. Brewer helped found the International Public Policy Forum and now serves on its Advisory Board. He is also the founder of the Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program, a public-private partnership that provides academic resources, mentoring, and leadership training to students from the Dallas Independent School District. In 2008, he was named “Communicator of the Year” by the National Forensic League.

​

To learn more about Mr. Brewer, please visit the Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors website. 

​

Dr. John Sexton is President Emeritus of New York University, having served as president from 2001 through 2015. Prior to being named NYU’s president, Dr. Sexton was dean of the university’s law school for fourteen years.
​
Before coming to NYU, Dr. Sexton served as law clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger of the United States Supreme Court (1980-1981), and to Judges David Bazelon and Harold Leventhal of the United States Court of Appeals (1979-1980). For ten years (1983-1993), he served as special master supervising pretrial proceedings in the Love Canal litigation.
 
Dr. Sexton is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served as the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He has received numerous awards, including "Outstanding High School Debate Coach of the Last 50 Years."

​

To learn more about Dr. Sexton, visit this site.

​

Mr. Miha Andrič is an international communication, speech and debate teacher, philosopher, and sociologist based in Slovenia. He is currently the director of Educational Center Argument, an executive board member at IPO (International Philosophy Olympiad), and a board member at Dialexicon. 

​

In the recent past, Mr. Andrič was the director of the National Debate Organisation Slovenia, a board member at IDEA, president of the Society for the Development of Humanities, and Head of the International debate program Bežigrad. He was the convenor of the International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO) in 2020 and 2021 and has served as program director of several international debate academies, including YAV Africa, DSA Russia, and ESU Turkey. He is a member of the IPPF Advisory Board. 

​

Mr. Will Baker is the director of the NYU Global Debate program, leading programs in competitive, community, and curative debate. He also serves as Chief Strategy Officer for Baker Consulting Associates (BCA) based in Dallas, Texas. BCA’s past clients include the Open Society Institute, Deutsche Bank, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations. Mr. Baker sits on the National Parent Council for the Rochester Institute of Technology. 

​

In 2003, as head of NYU’s team, Mr. Baker became the first African American director to win the national intercollegiate policy debate championship since Melvin Tolson of Wiley College in 1935. Since then, Mr. Baker has overseen top national finishes for nearly 20 consecutive years. NYU won over a dozen awards at the National Championships in spring 2025. In both 2022 and 2023, his team was honored with the National Public Debate Award by the CEDA, recognizing their work with the Brewer Foundation and other partners to share the transformative power of debate worldwide. This season, Mr. Baker has formed new partnerships with the National Prison Debate League, the NY Climate Exchange, and the SBU Collaborative for Earth, bringing critical thinking and listening skills to new communities. 

​

As a student at Cornell University, Mr. Baker won over 100 speech and debate awards and was named a Venephe Wilson Scholar, the team's highest student honor. After Cornell, Mr. Baker worked at the International Association for Religious Freedom before becoming a social entrepreneur. He founded both the New York Urban Debate League and the Malcolm X Prison Debate Initiative at Riker's Island.   
 
Mr. Baker is a member of the IPPF Advisory Board.​

​

Mr. Alex Pouille is the Zone Europe Chief Financial Officer for the world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and is based in Brussels, Belgium. He has over 14 years of financial experience in Control, Tax, Business Planning, Treasury, and Mergers and Acquisitions. His geographic scope in his current role includes Europe and the Middle East.​

 

Mr. Pouille was an award-winning high school debater at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in Florida. With his help, his school won the IPPF in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Pouille now heads the IPPF Circle of Champions - an IPPF alumni organization - and is a member of the IPPF Advisory Board.

​

 

Interested in meeting the quarterfinal and semifinal judges? Click here.​