Ed Lee III is Senior Director of the Alben W. Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue (BF), which houses Emory’s nationally acclaimed debate team and its cutting-edge dialogue programs.
As Senior Director of the BF, Ed works directly with Emory Admissions, the Woodruff Scholars Program, and the Glenn Pelham Alumni Foundation. He was the 2015 National Coach of the Year and three-time recipient of the James Unger Award given to the coach of the best debate team in the country. Before coming to Emory, Ed served as the Director of Debate at the University of Alabama and the Director of UC Berkeley’s Bay Area Urban Debate League.
Ed is a relentless advocate for public debate and dialogue. He is a national media commentator for U.S. Presidential Debates and the use of arguments in public discourse. He is routinely seen on CNN discussing presidential debate strategies and their impact on national politics. Additionally, he is the creator of the Emory Conversation Project (ECP), a program that trains students in the art of facilitation and negotiation to equip them to lead public and engaging conversations about and across their differences.
Ed is a highly sought-after workshop facilitator. His work focuses on the interplay between communication, culture and diversity and how those can be harnessed to improve the workplace and other communities.
Ed has a Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Georgia’s Institute for Higher Education (IHE), a master’s degree in Communication Studies from the University of Alabama, and is currently studying the interconnections between religion, justice, and peace building at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.