Professor Johnson has been involved in competitive debating for over 20 years and believes fervently in the power of academic debating to change people's lives.

Professor Johnson has held a variety of leadership positions in academic debating.  He was the first president of the National Parliamentary Debate Association, the largest intercollegiate debating organization in the US.  He is active in international debating and currently serves as the Secretary for the World Universities Debating Council.  He has been involved with the Chinese English language debating championships since 2004; and has served as the Chief Adjudicator for the past two rounds of that tournament.

Teams coached by Professor Johnson have enjoyed a great deal of competitive success.  In 2002, a Seawolf Debate team won the US National Championships.  In January of 2007, a team from the University of Alaska prevailed over 320 teams from around the world to reach the Semifinal round of the World Universities Debating Championships.

A self-professed debate addict, Mr Briscoe is a 1998 graduate of the US Air Force Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in political science.  While at the Academy, he competed in both policy debate and extemporaneous speaking, and he was named a Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) All American debater in 1998.

After graduation, Shawn served on active duty in the US Air Force for 6 years.  He earned a Master of Arts in international relations from the University of Oklahoma in 2004 and a Master of Arts in teaching through the University of Alaska-Anchorage in 2007.  He has coached high school students to more than 15 national-level awards, including 3rd place finishes in congressional debate at both the Catholic Forensic League national championships and the Tournament of Champions.