Jacques Bailly

Jacques A. Bailly (born 1966) won the 1980 Scripps National Spelling Bee and now serves as the Bee's official pronouncer, a position he has held since 2003.

Bailly grew up in the Denver, Colorado, area. He began participating in spelling bees in sixth grade, training with a nun at his Catholic school. He reached the National Spelling Bee as an eighth grader and won with the word elucubrate.

Bailly studied Ancient Greek and Latin, receiving his bachelor's degree from Brown University and his PhD from Cornell University. He learned German in Switzerland with the help of a Fulbright scholarship. In 1990, he wrote a letter to the National Spelling Bee organizers offering his services and was hired as an associated pronouncer. Bailly became the Bee's chief pronouncer after Alex Cameron's death in 2003.

Bailly works full-time as an associate professor of classics at the University of Vermont, specializing in Greek and Roman philosophy, particularly Plato.

Bailly portrays himself in the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee, which tells the story of a girl who competes in the National Spelling Bee.

Bailly is married to Leslyn Hall. They have two children, Isidora (b. 2001) and Jean-Pierre (b. 2003).

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