1980s Champions

Jacques Bailly

Jacques Bailly, age 14, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “elucubrate.”

Jacques has been the pronouncer of the Bee since 2003. Before that, he was an associate pronouncer. He teaches classics at the University of Vermont and also is the director of graduate studies. He earned a B.A. in classics from Brown University and a Ph.D. in ancient philosophy from Cornell University.

Paige Pipkin

Paige Pipkin, age 13, sponsored by the El Paso Herald-Post, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “sarcophagus.”

Paige married and became Paige Kimble. She was director, then executive director, of the Bee from 1996-2020. Before that, she served as assistant director from 1992 to 1995 after completing eight years on Bee staff.

Molly Dieveney

Molly Dieveney, age 12, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “psoriasis.”

Molly married and became Molly Dieveney Baker. She attended Yale University, then worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston and then as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal. She became chief operating officer and a writer at an investment management firm.

Blake Giddens

Blake Giddens, age 14, sponsored by the El Paso Herald-Post, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “Purim.”

Blake was a judge for the Bee from 1996 to 2021. He is a civil engineer in Virginia.

Daniel Greenblatt

Daniel Greenblatt, age 13, sponsored by the Loudoun Times-Mirror, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “luge.”

Dan studied computer science at William and Mary and James Madison University before becoming a software engineer. He is also a voice actor. He lives in the Netherlands.

Balu Natarajan

Balu Natarajan, age 13, sponsored by the Chicago Tribune, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “milieu.”

Balu graduated from Northwestern University Medical School and has been the Chief Medical Officer of AccentCare/Seasons Hospice for 20 years. His sons, Atman and Advaith Balakrishnan, also participated in the National Competition.

Jon Pennington

Jon Pennington, age 14, sponsored by The Patriot-News, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “odontalgia.”

Jon earned a Ph.D. in sociology from UC Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. He is a continuous improvement manager at the State of Minnesota and previously worked for CVS Health, Wells Fargo and a federal government contracting agency.

Stephanie Petit

Stephanie Petit, age 13, sponsored by The Pittsburgh Press, won the $1,500 prize by correctly spelling the word “staphylococci.”

Stephanie went to Princeton University and the UC Berkeley School of Law. She then landed a job clerking for a U.S. Circuit Court judge in Montana before becoming a principal at a San Francisco law firm.

Rageshree Ramachandran

Rageshree Ramachandran, age 13, sponsored by the Sacramento Bee, won the $1,500 prize by correctly spelling the word “elegiacal.”

Rageshree attended Stanford University. She became a Ph.D and M.D. resident in pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, then became a professor and director of medical education there.

Scott Isaacs

Scott Isaacs, age 14, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News, won the $1,500 prize by correctly spelling the word “spoliator.”

Scott earned a doctorate in naturopathic medicine from the National University of Natural Medicine. He became a spelling coach and was the academic chairman for the Spelling Bee of China from 2015 to 2019. He also pronounced for China’s national spelling bee and the finals of the North America Spelling Champion Challenge.