March 19, 1979 – SUI’s Professor of Speech & Debate (1925-1970) – A. Craig Baird – passes away at age 95.

In 1925, Speech Professor A. Craig Baird came to Iowa City and continued a tradition he had started at Bates College in Maine – taking his debate teams overseas to compete with Oxford University students in England. Over the next 45 years, Baird built the modern debate program at Iowa, wrote and/or edited over 36 books on public speaking, and became known world-wide as “The Father of International Debate.”

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