Brigance, William Norwood, 1896-1960

In his thirty-eight years at Wabash College, "Briggie" taught generations of Wabash students how to be more effective when they spoke and, through his textbooks, he taught thousands more in American high schools and colleges.

As editor of the pioneer book series: History and Criticism of American Public Address, and as editor of the Quarterly Journal of Speech, he gave direction to the scholarship in the field of communication, and as President of the Speech Association of America, he guided the profession through its expansion in the postwar years. The Brigance Forum is an annual public lecture or debate held in his memory. Family, friends, former students whom he taught, and those who continued the tradition of Speech at Wabash after him, have, through their contributions, endowed this program as an ongoing memorial to William Norwood Brigance. In addition, The William N. Brigance Speakers Bureau Award was established by May and James Ching, Class of 1951, in his honor. This award goes to the Wabash student who has done the most for the Speaker's Bureau during his college career.