2002

The 75th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee took place on May 30th, 2002. It was held at the Grand Hyatt Washington, and 250 spellers participated.

In an attempt to return to the two-day competition format, a written prerequisite assessment was introduced this year.

Learn more

About the 75th Bee

Champion

Pratyush Buddiga

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Pratyush Buddiga, age 13, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News, won the $12,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “prospicience.”

Pratyush majored in economics at Duke University and became a professional poker player. He later became a venture capitalist.

Location

Grand Hyatt Washington

at the Independence Ballroom

Winning Word

prospicience(n)

proh-SPIH-shunts

the act of looking forward : foresight.

This word is from Latin.

OFFICIALS

Directors

Paige P. Kimble

Judges

  • Leroy C. Dillard
  • Dr. Sandra C. Harrell
  • Mary Brooks
  • Dr. Ed Low
  • Blake Giddens
  • Dr. Michelle M. Mehta

Pronouncers

  • Dr. Alex J. Cameron
  • Dr. Jacques Bailly

SPELLER ROSTERS

  • Naomi I. Ahsan
  • David H. Anderson
  • Sean F. Armijo
  • Mohammed M. Bader
  • Allison Suzanne Bailey
  • Jordan Bailly
  • Jane W.D. Bartman
  • Kristine May Roque Bataclan
  • Bibbi Baumez
  • David S. Berg
  • Kyle Richard Bevan
  • Evelyn Diana Blacklock
  • Vickie Marie Bolotte
  • Elyssa Bolt
  • Kate Lynne Boring
  • Ashley Bose
  • Andrew L. Bouchard
  • Anthony K. Bradshaw
  • Sarah Bryson Brand
  • Brandon A. Bray
  • Victoria Elizabeth Breeding
  • John J. Brooks
  • Caroline M. Brouthers
  • Katie L. Brown
  • Ryan Brune
  • Pratyush Buddiga
  • Heather Buzzard
  • Brandee N. Cain
  • Michael F. Carilli
  • Erik Zyman Carrasco
  • Carissa Kay Carrington
  • Angela N. Carter
  • Evan Katherine Casey
  • Brendan Shui-Ting Chan
  • Allyn M. Checovish
  • Jacob Wasin Chowpaknam
  • Kaylyn Miranda Christopher
  • Thea Raquel Clark
  • Jeff Clements
  • Hannah C. Clemons
  • Katharine Close
  • Emily Cole
  • Dennis F. Cole
  • Alyssa M. Coltrain
  • Luke L. Courtright
  • Karen Elizabeth Cover
  • Meagan Elizabeth Dahmer
  • Lindeon Sherlock Davis
  • Patricia Grace de Guzman
  • Andrew Phillip DeBroeck
  • Patrick James Delaney
  • Sean Dennison
  • Carolyn Gail Diak
  • Jordan C. Dick
  • Marshall Doig
  • Starlyn Dawn Dupuis
  • Courtney N. Durazo
  • Alex Dzurick
  • Kirstin Celeste Early
  • Daniel J. Elliott
  • Abhijith Eswarappa
  • Curran A. Farnsworth
  • Jessica Marie Farr
  • Eddie Lee Felder III
  • Chelsea Tyler Ferguson
  • Andrew W. Fink
  • Allison Teresa Flaker
  • Kristinea Michelle Fondren
  • Alicia R. Forrest
  • Alexandra D. French
  • Devorah L. Friedman
  • Samuel M. Galler
  • Mattias Gassman
  • Derek Matthew Gavorcik
  • Samantha Alexandra Gillogly
  • JJ (Joy) Goldstein
  • Tim Graf
  • Sean Matthew Grammel
  • Siri Grandhe
  • Kaley Ann Graves
  • Linn E. Groft
  • Sai R. Gunturi
  • Shana M. Hakanson
  • Nathan Mark Hammes
  • Nicole Marie Paulsen Harper
  • Ryan PAtrick Henson
  • Gerrit Michael Herrygers
  • Michael Hessenauer
  • Aaron W. Ho
  • Levi Holden
  • Austin C. Holler
  • Jelessa Monay Huskey
  • Amanda Renee Hyde
  • Priyanka Saloni Jain
  • Carissa Chey James
  • Joy Y. Jiang
  • Justin Andrew Johns
  • Adriana Marie Johnson
  • Zipporah Ja’min Johnson
  • Rachel W. Johnson
  • Ridley Abigail Jones
  • Christopher Michael Jones
  • Nick T. Jones
  • Brandon William Jovero
  • Samira K. Kadam
  • Jacqueline A. Kellish
  • Allison Anne Kessinger
  • Lindsay A. King
  • Zachary King
  • Erin M. Kischuk
  • Kellen A. Knowles
  • Ryan M. Kroflich
  • Parth R. Lakhani
  • Joshua H. Lee
  • Jessica J. Leib
  • Rebecca G. Lent
  • Christa Anne Leotti
  • Trevor Leslie
  • Daniel L. Libatique
  • Melissa A. Lowder
  • Jessie Lynn Lupardus
  • Trevor J. Mahoney
  • Winona Alejandra Manrique
  • Samantha Tan Mascia
  • Maria Mascio
  • Will Maxey
  • Kelsey June McGreer
  • Lauren Nicole McIntyre
  • Kayla Ann Medina
  • Elyse M. Michrina
  • Alyssa Rae Miller
  • Holly Elise Miller
  • Catherine Miller
  • Sara Lynn Mingle
  • Shruti Mishra
  • Kevin Edholm Moch
  • Elizabeth Jane Mohler
  • Joshua T. Monahan
  • Mary Lucie Monk
  • Michael A. Moore
  • Sarah Katherine Morayati
  • Gloria R. Morse
  • Natalie Mucker
  • Paul Ray Nabhan
  • Steven Matthew Nalley
  • Raisa Diones Nguyen
  • Quang-Minh Nguyen
  • Molly C. Nichols
  • Lawrence A. O’Boyle
  • Saro Oknaian
  • Ifreke Paul Okpokowuruk
  • Rebecca Blanche Olson
  • Andrew T. Orsie
  • Lizette Arlene Ortiz
  • Andy G. Otto
  • Candace Janai Palmer
  • Jessica Menor Palola
  • Coryn Palvelsky
  • Ami Parekh
  • Irene Youngji Park
  • Kalyn Grey Parker
  • Phil Patrick
  • Sarah Ann Payne
  • Cari Nicole Peacock
  • Monica Beatriz Perez-Cuevas
  • Carrie Elizabeth Pfaff
  • Yannik K. Pitcan
  • Dylan A. Pittman
  • Geneva M. Poteet
  • Matthew A. Potter
  • Usama A. Qadri
  • Dylan Luis Rabb
  • Varun P. Rajan
  • Aeshna Rajmaira
  • Lindsay Rasa
  • Regina Rose Reinig
  • Grant Newton Remmen
  • April D. Reynolds
  • Courtney L. Ring
  • Jennifer Rios
  • Quay Kieran Roberts
  • Jeremiah James Rodriguez Belocura
  • Graham P. Roese
  • Brittany Renee Rose
  • Oleg Rudenko
  • Kristina Renee Runde
  • Matt Rynalski
  • Jared C. Sadoian
  • Jessie Lee Saville
  • Thomas J. Say
  • Michael Joseph Scalise
  • George J. Schaertl
  • Jacob Mark Schmidt
  • Justin A. Schulze
  • Carl J. Schwager
  • Mia Scioscia
  • Susanna B. Seibert
  • Sreya Sengupta
  • Joe Shepherd
  • Kuldip Singh Shergill Jr.
  • Shanti Priya Singh
  • Claire E. Sledd
  • Monica C. So
  • Tara Katheryn Stevens
  • Thomas Edward Stikeleather
  • Siva S. Sundaram
  • Jenna Lynn Swartz
  • Jennie Sweda
  • Ramya Tadipatri
  • Sreya Talasila
  • John Louis Tandy Tamplin
  • Wen Hui Tan
  • Jennifer E. Tate
  • Jordan J. Tate
  • Patrick J. Teykl
  • Mallika Sarah Thampy
  • Pierre Nicholas Thompson
  • Bryan E. Thurston
  • Scott Robert Toland
  • Mallory E. Torola
  • Sarah L. Troutman
  • Nicholas Truelson
  • Aqsa Ullah
  • Rebecca Munoz Varon
  • Maria Isabella C. Verendia
  • Daniel James Villarreal
  • Andy Wade
  • Joshua David Wade
  • Brian M. Walsh
  • Bria Justine Wash
  • Morgan Leigh Whiteaker
  • Will Wight
  • James David Wilcoxson
  • Lindsay Willett
  • Holly Brianna Williams
  • Michael J. Willis
  • Kayla Marie Withers
  • Sarah Yang
  • Ashley N. Yu
  • Ricky Zein
  • Michael J. Zivat
  • Jesse Adam Zymet

* Winner
** Runner-Up