Nathan Chen
Co-Founder, Head Coach
Coach profile · NC
Nathan Chen is the 2024 NCFCA National Champion in Team Policy and a Coolidge Cup Finalist. He studies Computer Science at the University of Washington, Seattle, and is an undergraduate AI research assistant in the SCALE Lab. He coaches a small number of students each cycle.
Bio
Background
Record
Nathan recorded 94 top ten finishes, 21 finals appearances and more than 60 elimination round wins over six years of competition. His Coolidge Cup final came in a competition that draws on five leagues and more than 150,000 competitors. He was regional champion in each of his first three seasons. In Lincoln-Douglas he won the two largest tournaments back to back without losing a round. In moot court he had the most dominant regular season in NCFCA history, reaching the final round at every tournament he entered.
Students
Nathan is Meridian's Head Coach. He has coached 16 students privately across more than 100 hours, in Team Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Moot Court and speech. His students have ranged from first-year competitors to fifth-year varsity debaters. Every one of them has advanced to elimination rounds. Some have gone on to place at nationals and reach tournament finals.
Before coaching privately, Nathan spent two years volunteering as a teacher and mentor at his own debate club. Since 2025 he has volunteered with the Coolidge Foundation's speech and debate program as an alumnus of its 1890 Society, working its events and serving as a panelist.
Fields
Nathan's chief interests are epistemology, the study of how knowledge is acquired, and intent, down to the ontology of motivation: what moves a person to act. His question is fidelity: whether what a person knows or intends survives intact as it passes between people, fields and places.
In computer science, that question becomes intent alignment: how to ensure that a person's intent is carried reliably through an AI system, from its reasoning to its output. In 2026 he joined the SCALE Lab, a human-centered AI lab led by Associate Professor Tanu Mitra in the University of Washington Information School. He co-founded Meridian, where he designed its visual system and leads the product development of its coaching and tournament software. In 2023, he worked in medicine as a research assistant at Sunnybrook Otolaryngology Group, where he also shadowed surgeons and audiologists.
Record
Accomplishments
As a competitor
- 2024 National Champion, Team Policy.
- Coolidge Cup Finalist · five leagues · 150,000+ competitors.
- Back-to-back-to-back Regional Champion, first three years.
- Won the two largest LD tournaments back-to-back, undefeated.
- Affirmative case never lost an elimination round, entire season.
- Most dominant Moot Court regular season in NCFCA history.
- 94 top-ten finishes · 21 finals appearances · 60+ elimination round wins.
As a coach
- 16 students · 100+ hours · 100% break rate.
- Every student has broken in competition across formats, experience levels, and competitive histories, from first-year competitors to five-year varsity.
Philosophy
Philosophy
- Clarity precedes persuasion.
- Less is more.
- Speak to people, not to the format.
- Prioritize substance over tactics.
Rates & packages
Instruction tiers
Sessions are one-on-one, conducted remotely via Google Meet. Coverage ranges from case development and flow strategy to delivery coaching and practice rounds, whatever the student needs most before the next tournament.
HOURLY
$50
One session · 60 minutes · remote via Google Meet.
5-SESSION PACK
$200
Best for a full preparation cycle · saves $50 · $40 per session.
Student outcomes
Testimonials
“Before Nathan, I had never won an out round in my life. After Nathan, we made finals.”
Before I got Nathan's coaching, we had two AFF cases. The first one was mid, the second was horrible with an 0-1 record. Then we got Nathan, got help on a new case, and AFF rode to finals. Before I got Nathan, I never won an outround in my life. After I got Nathan, we made it to finals.
The biggest thing Nathan helped us with was impacting our case, whether AFF or NEG, with the rhetoric we needed. Before Nathan, our debates always lacked the impact they needed to win. He helped us understand narrative and strategy better, and I learned about not only the importance of points but the impact behind them, why it matters.
By the way, I got my first 30 speaker points at the tournament right after getting Nathan's coaching.
“You will be unable to find a Nathan Chen student who has not found success.”
This was my second year doing NCFCA, and until I started Nathan Chen coaching I had never broken. At the end of this year competing in LD I went 3-3 with a breaking round at Nationals, along with breaking in Moot with a 5-1 record.
Nathan was always willing to help with our cases, ideas, and delivery. He would judge practice rounds and give detailed pointers, each one tailored to me and my partner's separate styles. But the help is not what truly makes Nathan Chen coaching the best choice. It is that Nathan adapts to every new student and helps them find their style. He does not teach his students so they just know the answers. Every student gets a foundation they can build off of for years to come.
Nathan has a 100% success rate in his students breaking. Anything he coached them in, they broke. The decision to get Nathan's coaching was one that helped me immensely. There is nothing else I could recommend more for rapid improvement. All you have to do is sit down and he will mold you into the debater you have always wanted to be.
“Mr. Chen didn't just help us compete and win, he taught us what it means to be a debater.”
Mr. Nathan Chen has coached me in nearly every Speech and Debate category. He mentored me into delivering national-qualifying speeches and helped me place 8th in Lincoln-Douglas at Nationals and 3rd and 4th in two Moot Court tournaments.
This was my first year in Moot Court, and my partner and I were completely lost at the beginning. Mr. Chen didn't just help us compete and win, he taught us what it means to be a Moot Court debater. It was also my first year in Lincoln-Douglas, and after coaching with Nathan I won the very first tournament, going 5-1 and nearly sweeping finals.
If I needed help with a case, a point, cross-examination, or becoming less aggressive as a speaker, Nathan was there. He always emphasized that his goal was not to create debate clones who recite what he said. His goal was to coach debaters who understood and believed in their own arguments. As a fifth-year varsity who had found success before, I was wary about accepting coaching. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my speech and debate career.
“He doesn't just help you. He helps you help yourself.”
Nathan has coached me in a variety of styles of debate. My partner and I competed in Moot Court for the first time this year, and I had no idea where to begin. Nathan was instrumental in helping me understand the style and how to prepare.
One of Nathan's best coaching techniques is that he doesn't just help you, he helps you help yourself. He equipped me with the skills to generate my own ideas and arguments and a deeper understanding of topics instead of spoon-feeding answers. My partner and I broke multiple times, placed in the top four twice, and placed top three for Oral Advocate, all due to his guidance.
Nathan has a treasure trove of experience that will leave you a better debater, speaker, and thinker. I was hesitant to accept coaching at first, but I have never regretted it since. If you're looking to up your game, break a losing streak, or improve your skills, I would highly recommend.
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