Brian Lain, Distinguished Teaching Professor of communication studies and longtime director of UNT Debate, didn't always see himself becoming a teacher.
As a graduate student at Wayne State University, he imagined teaching as a pathway to a different career. That changed during his first year of teaching, when he reached out to a student who had missed several classes and was struggling with the assignments. He learned her son was the victim of a gunshot incident, and she'd spent several nights in the emergency room with him.
"I was completely shaken," Lain says. "This student and I were pretty much the same age at the time. The things I thought should be important to her -- deadlines, a paper, a quiz -- paled in comparison to what she was experiencing. There she was in class, juggling coursework, a job, family (and family trauma) and other issues. I learned very quickly that students were not there for the teachers. We are there for them."
Now, nearly three decades later, Lain has earned his second 'Fessor Graham Award, UNT's highest honor given by the Student Government Association to a faculty member who has established a record of outstanding service to students.
"I am very honored and humbled to be chosen for this award," he says. "I know the work and dedication the student body puts in, and to be recognized means a great deal to me."
Lain joined UNT as an instructor and director of debate in 2002. Since 2004, he has led the instruction team for Advocating in Public, a course that fosters dialogue and debate amongst hundreds of students, every full semester. Its cumulative event, Debate-A-Palooza, has won an award for Fostering Public Discussion by the Cross-Examination Debate Association. He also is a past recipient of the President's Council Distinguished Service Award and the DSI CLEAR Outstanding Online Course Award.
"I am fortunate to work alongside and learn from the great students we have at North Texas," Lain says. "Challenging students, helping them succeed and watching them find their strengths have been my favorite things about teaching. Students have returned the favor by challenging me to teach better, learn faster, adapt methods and make learning engaging and memorable. I hope that more than any grade, assignment or class, they will remember the connection we had when they look back on their time at UNT. I know that is what will stick with me the most."
Adrian Tam ('24 M.S.) met Lain while serving as a graduate teaching assistant in his Advocating in Public course.
"He probably doesn't know this, but when I first came to the United States about two years ago, I wasn't very open," says Tam, who began his Ph.D. in higher education in UNT's College of Education this fall. "It was always just, 'Go to university, come back' -- that sort of thing. Then I met Dr. Lain, and he was different. He's very active in our faculty, does a lot of things and spends a lot of time with students. That gusto that he has, and the influence -- I was like, 'Wow, I want to be like that.'"
Before long, Tam formed UNT's first-ever International Student Advisory Board in 2024. He was part of the 2023 UNT Homecoming crew and, of course, the debate team.
As a teaching assistant, Tam was struck by Lain's respect for students as equal partners in their education.
"I learned a lot from him -- how to speak beautifully but also effectively, how to form an argument with adequate points and have an open mindset. But I also learned from his leadership -- as a teacher, as a director of debate and also as a father. Leading is not easy when you've got so many responsibilities. I've learned what to prioritize and how to do the work effectively, and how to give it your all. That's what Dr. Lain is all about. When he puts his mind and heart to something, he really does it."
