Kelly McDonald’s passion for forensics began as a high school sophomore and continued to flourish for nearly two decades. While at Auburn High School, he and his debate partner became the first team from the school to qualify for the National Forensic League tournament in cross-examination debate. During his senior year, the pair finished third in the AAA state tournament, the highest finish by an Auburn student up to that time. Kelly was also named to the All-District team for the South Puget Sound League and was recognized as one of the nation’s top high school debaters. In 1989, he received the Forensics Award, honoring the top individual in the program that year.

Kelly lettered three years in debate and graduated with honors. He earned a double major in communication studies and history at Pacific Lutheran University, graduating cum laude in 1993. He continued his studies at the University of Kansas, where he completed a master’s degree focusing on rhetorical criticism and communication theory, and a Ph.D. in 1998. During his time at PLU, Kelly also served as the tournament director for one of Washington’s largest high school speech and debate competitions.

Kelly McDonald went on to serve the forensics community as a professor at Arizona State University in the School of Communication and as Director of Forensics, leaving a lasting impact on generations of students and competitors.