Houston Contest
Among the many gifts to Vanderbilt University from the late Franklin K. Houston, life trustee, was an endowed fund to provide prizes for public speaking.
Mr. Houston grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and took Public Speaking while he was a student at Vanderbilt. When he became C.E.O. of the Corn Merchants Bank in New York City, he established this competition to encourage competent public speaking, as he believed that his experience at Vanderbilt had made a very real difference in his own life.
The Houston speech competition is held every semester. Below are videos of student speeches from the Houston contest, 2009–present.
Winners of the Frank K. Houston Public Speaking Contest
1921:
Walton Whitwell
1922:
Alfred Taylor
1923:
Leo Bearman
1924:
Nolan Carter
1925:
John Norman
1926:
Marion Tillman
1927:
David Caldwell
1928:
Joe Williams Jr.
1929:
D. Rusby Seabaugh
1930:
Charles Hudson Jr.
1931:
George Dominick
1932:
Wendell Ensor
1933:
Herbert McConnell
1934:
Henry Hart Jr.
1935:
Hugh Helm
1936:
Edward Steele
1937:
Frank Farris Jr.
1938:
Edward Harris
1939:
Robert Landis
1940:
Frank Clement
1941:
Wayne Dehoney
1942:
Walter Snell
1947:
Hardy Clark
1948:
James Kirby Jr.
1949:
George Cate Jr.
1950:
Smith Jones
James Harland Jr.
1951:
Hansel Harrison Jr.
Frances Farris
Henry Diamond
1952:
Henry Diamond
Robert Harlin
Albert Pennybacker Jr.
1953:
Carp McQueen
William Baker
Albert Pennybacker Jr.
1954:
John Ferguson
John Marshall
1955:
Johnie Bozeman
Gloria Polk
1956:
Carl Stem
Robert Gooldman
1957:
Chester Burns
Paul Michael
1958:
Joe Sills Jr.
Cynrhia Hastings
1959:
Joe Roby
James Patrick
1960:
Michael Krawcheck
Frank Boehm
1961:
Latham Sturdivant Jr.
Osborne Green Jr.
1962:
Nancy Krider
Grady Wade
1963:
Lionel Barret Jr.
Frank Woods
1964:
John Brinsfield Jr.
William Richardson
1965:
William Kelly
Charles Ivie
1966:
Charles Ivie
Thomas Graves
1967:
Thomas Graves
Lee McKnight
1968:
Douglas Bates
Richard Knapp
1969:
Elizebeth Urban
Darryl Berger
1971:
Douglas Sandage
Zachary Holmes
Doris Daughtery
1972:
James Dowden
Charles Danner
John Logan
1973:
Kenneth Sisk
Mark Houck
Anne Jeffery
1984 Spring:
Nancy Johnston
Nicholas Hansen
Michael Jabaley Jr.
Fall 1984:
Patrick Bryant
Brian Lemaster
Lawrence Taube
Spring 1985:
Katherine Peterson
Kathryn Lazenby
Kirk Manz
Fall 1985:
Tammy Lyn Veazey
Joseph Stearns Ellis
John Galen Giddings
Fall 1986:
Thomas Coleman Strawn III
Eleanor Harper Copeland
Dena Lynn Laurent
Spring 1987:
Julia Mitchell
Barry Goheen
Kimberly Weller
Fall 1987:
Heather Lynne Malogrides
Caleb Paul Stevenson Finegan
Joy Ruth St. Clair
Spring 1988:
Samuel Lloyd Shelby
Ashley Cassandra Paul
Keven T. Kroner
Fall 1988:
Todd Hennings
Andrea Kirsten Albert
Steven Patterson
Spring 1989:
Deborah Ann Maynard
Kim Held
Beth McCarthy
Fall 1989:
Jennifer Horn
Sam Feist
Charles Brickley
Spring 1990:
Lori Bean
Nina Shetty
Kim McCreery
Fall 1990:
James Davies
Joseph Gilbert
Douglas Jones
Caitlin Noe
Spring 1991:
Kimberly Royer
Holly Tomchey
Harry Baudry
Fall 1991:
Mary Antony
Jordan Bette
Jay Ballard
Spring 1992:
Emily Alson Skone
Adema Gee
Erica Davis
Susan Hayes
Fall 1992:
John Vaughty
Paige Sudderth
Sean Roach
Spring 1993:
Laura Manning
Anna Glass
Jennifer Mantey
Fall 1993:
Catherine Feretti
Traci Dunn
Spring 1994:
Michele Creech
Melinda Lewis
Steve Barnes
Fall 1994:
Connie Flood
Erika Grote
Greer Redden
Spring 1995:
John Esterhay
Amanda Albright
Elissa A. Rivas
Fall 1995:
Ilona Kewychyj
Michael Bruno
Ingrid Schuster
Spring 1996:
Kale Ness
Tysha Stephens
Jennie Lukens
Fall 1996:
Whitney Barker
Steven Decaluwe
Christopher Sadowski
Spring 1997:
Jennifer Young
Carolyn Stewart
Todd Richardson
Fall 1997:
Marcia Larson
Robert Wehmeyer
Daniel Shay
Spring 1998:
Zachary Jackson
Georgia Cole
David Koloski
Fall 1998:
Bryan Kelly
Shawna Rasul
Nathaniel Morrow
Spring 1999:
Amy Dassler
Stephanie Patterson
Megan Guernsey
Fall 1999:
Phil Zimmerman
Leslie Kennerly
Rebecca Templeton
Spring 2000:
Kao-Ping Chua
Stephanie Keiber
Maggie Arvelund
Fall 2000:
Stephanie Kate Sweeten
Katherine Garrety
Julia Ellis
Spring 2001:
Katy Clabo
Heather Souder
Jonathan O’Toole
Fall 2001:
Kimberly Erin Olvey
Katie Betzwieser
Matthew Syzmanski
Stephanie Trautwen
Spring 2002:
Conrad G. Lucas II
Sam Jones
Kendal Van Wagner
Bruce Hawkins
Fall 2002:
Skylar King
Tyler Simpson
Auston Heim
Erin Guy
Spring 2003:
Brooks Ching
Erin Steinbruchel
Jonathan Ida
Jon Scruggs
Fall 2003:
Jamie D. Frazier
Michael Wilt
Megan Daniel
Spring 2004:
Drake McCrary
Katherine Lannom
Marvin Figueroa
Elizabeth Davis
Fall 2004:
Abigail Martin
Aden Johnson
Joseph Zakierski
Spring 2005:
Rob Weller
Matthew White
Danielle DiBenedetto
Fall 2005:
Edward O’Neal
Mallory McGill
Abigail Collier
Spring 2006:
Sarah Sharp
Carlie Gotlieb
Samantha Martin
Fall 2006:
Roy Stone
Martha Legg
Laura Raba
Spring 2007:
Glenn Thomas Rideou
Kathryn Levene
Devin Lyon
Mary Hollis
Fall 2007:
Matthew Orton
Andrew Schlanger
Dafna Bareket
Spring 2008:
Benjamin Popper
Lindsay Wuller
Ashley Williamson
Fall 2008:
Brad Lawrence
Lauren Kinzer
Tyler Sanchez
Spring 2009:
Catherine Wearn
Brant Bonetti
Marshall Kerns
Fall 2009:
Nicholas Brown
Brian Donelan
Lindsey Elkin
Spring 2010:
Matt Moore
Brittney Johnson
Cheng Yu
Fall 2010:
Shana Lowenthal
Jenny Gildner
Greg McMillin
Spring 2011:
Allison Deissler
Leigh Ware
John Rice
Fall 2011:
Hannah Sills
Zachary Goldman
Michelle Weinman
Ben Hareza
Spring 2012:
Arjun Pillai
Errol Norman
Wade Longmire
Fall 2012:
Marc Rosen
Samuel Adkisson
Elliot Scher
Spring 2013:
Michael Olson
Jeremy Bolin
Michael Zoorob
Fall 2013:
Jesse Golomb
Jonathan Meneses
Monica Peacock
Spring 2014:
Rebecca Lauer
Peter Lin
James Cribbs
Fall 2014:
Darby Hobbs
Alex Swanson
Hana Crandall
Spring 2015:
Rebecca Chandler
Apurva Kunte
Jordan Klein
Fall 2016:
Jonathon Segal
Eve Moll
Miguel Moravec
Spring 2017:
Claire Barnett
Matthew Austin
Max Schneider
Fall 2017:
Veronica Smith
Sasha Pines
Zachary Buchta
Spring 2018:
Mary Catherine Cook
Lin Reish
Samantha McCormick
Fall 2018:
Yolanda Ye
Douglas Finnegan
Tim Rice
Spring 2019:
Max Raphael
Cassidy Kortze
Devon Shewell
Fall 2019:
Veronica Smith
Cecilia Williams
Tommy Oswalt
Fall 2021:
Matty Templeton
Alisha Saluja
Jana Li