Jacques Bailly

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

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 associate 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 portrayed 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).